Scotland to recruit enough nursing staff for safe care

The RCN acknowledged that over the past year NHS Scotland has increased nursing staff in post and reduced the number of vacancies, but a 30-minute reduction in the working week, which was introduced in April 2024, “means more staff are needed”.

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It said: “The net effect is that the number of available nursing hours did not increase. Given a further one-hour reduction in the working week will be applied from April 2026, NHS boards should be over-recruiting to ensure they can accommodate this change without an impact on service delivery.”