Protecting Scotland’s NHS

That the Parliament notes with concern that, since 2009, almost 4,000 whole-time-equivalent NHS staff have left their jobs, including more than 1,700 nurses and midwives, leaving the number of nursing and midwifery posts in Scotland’s NHS at its lowest point since 2006; further notes that the latest NHS workforce statistics also show a decline in other workforce categories, including consultants and allied health professionals; notes that the declining trend in Scotland’s NHS workforce began prior to 2011-12, at a time when the overall Scottish budget was rising; believes that the proposed £319 million real-terms cut to the overall health budget over the spending review period threatens further frontline job losses, including the reduction of nearly 1,000 whole-time-equivalent nurses and midwifery posts that have already been projected by NHS boards in the current financial year; further believes that such a rapid and disproportionate reduction cannot be explained by changes to service delivery and that it will impact adversely on the care of patients as well as the workloads and morale of remaining staff described as being at "breaking point" by the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland, and calls on the Scottish Government to take responsibility for its own cuts and to accept that such a deep and disproportionate loss of frontline healthcare professionals is not compatible with protecting Scotland’s NHS.