Lizzy Buchan: NHS staff pledge must become reality

Staffing issues have severely hampered the NHS. Picture: Jayne Wright

The severity of the staffing issues gripping the NHS has become impossible to ignore.

Across Scotland, GP practices are closing their lists, nurses are warning they cannot cope and hospitals are struggling to recruit specialists in areas ranging from paediatrics to gastroenterology.

Appropriate staffing levels are essential to patient safety and staff morale, yet hospitals are under increasing pressure to slash staffing costs as budgets are squeezed.

Therefore Nicola Sturgeon’s pledge to enshrine safe staffing in law earlier this week seemed like an encouraging move to tackle one of the issues crippling the health service.

The First Minister certainly found a receptive audience when she delivered the promise during a speech at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Congress in Glasgow on Monday, where delegates gave her a standing ovation.

Compared to the challenging situation in England – laid bare by the recent junior doctors strike – Scotland certainly seems to be making all the right noises.

But each health service is very different and the challenges facing Scotland’s NHS are its own.