SNP must finally wake up to NHS nursing crisis as stressed out, demoralised staff quit

In December, we warned of the apparent lack of interest in such mundane matters shown by flag-waving nationalists after figures revealed there were more than 9,200 unfilled midwifery shifts in Scotland in 2025, up from 3,300 in 2019.

Then, in April, came the news that nearly 90 per cent of newly qualified primary teachers had not been given a proper full-time job, and were instead being forced to exist on short-term or zero-hours contracts – or were not in work at all. Some understandably decided to give up and find a job doing something else entirely.

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Now it’s back to the NHS again, with the Royal College of Nursing calling on the Scottish Government to prioritise workforce planning amid concern over the large number of nurses nearing retirement age, those who are choosing to leave the profession before the age of 50, and sickness absence rates.

Colin Poolman, executive director of RCN Scotland, said: “Scotland cannot build the sustainable nursing workforce it urgently needs by asking staff to continue to work short-staffed and under relentless pressure while feeling demoralised and undervalued.”

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The new government now has a chance to start afresh with a real focus on ensuring public services are run effectively and well. If they fail to grasp it, the NHS and education – both central to the well-being of the economy and the country – will continue to fall into disarray, a process that has been going on for years.

Cynics may suggest that this is actually what the SNP is planning for. For all our sakes, let’s hope the new government is about to prove them wrong.

However, when your head is fixed firmly in a cloud and your mind is full of dreams of a far-off ‘promised land’, it can be hard to see what is actually happening in your immediate vicinity. SNP ministers need to come back down to earth, and quickly.