Anger has been expressed about the cost of Perth Royal Infirmary (PRI) taking on agency nurses, with more than 2,000 shifts carried out in less than a year at the hospital.
Figures obtained by The Courier through the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) reveal that a total of 2,391 agency nurse shifts were completed at PRI from April last year to February.
Liz Smith, who is contesting the Perthshire South and Kinross-shire seat at Holyrood, claimed the NHS in Scotland has “splurged” millions of pounds using agency nurses.
“The SNP have had a chaotic approach to NHS workforce planning and this is clearly now coming home to roost,” she said.
“Instead of spending the money required to train young nurses, it has splurged tens of millions on expensive agency alternatives. It’s time we had a long-term approach to our NHS.”
She continued: “Things are tough now and the service will deteriorate in the future if these staffing problems are not dealt with.”
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said the health body has a “proactive approach” to reducing reliance on nursing agency cover.
“All decisions on staffing requirements are made to ensure the ongoing provision of safe and effective care for our patients,” she said.
“We use the NHS Scotland National Nursing and Midwifery Workload and Workforce Planning Tools that help determine recommended nurse staffing requirements.
“This provides guidance and an escalation process for staff to secure supplementary staffing. In this policy, the use of agency staffing would be the final option.”
She added: “We continue to actively recruit to both our full and part-time positions and we have opened up the opportunity for all registered nurses, midwives and healthcare support
workers to join the NHS Tayside nurse bank to increase capacity and reduce our use of agency staff.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government commented: “More staff than ever before are working in Scotland’s NHS.
“As of December 31, 2015, 138,310 whole-time equivalent staff was employed by NHS Scotland – a record high and an increase under the current government of over 11,248 or 8.9%.
“This includes over 2,500 more nursing and midwifery staff.”
