Scottish Labour has said that new figures published today (Tuesday), which show the number of nurses in the NHS in Scotland have been cut by over 1,700 since 2009,  blow a hole in the SNP’s claim that it would protect the NHS.  

The new figures that expose the fact that almost 4,000 Scottish NHS workers have joined the dole queue since 2009, show nurses being forced to bear the brunt of the cuts – accounting for 45% of all job losses.  

The huge cuts to frontline NHS staff come despite Alex Salmond pledging to “protect the health service for the duration of the next parliament” and Nicola Sturgeon promising to “do everything in our power to protect front-line services”.  

In a separate move, the SNP government published a projection of future NHS workforce that showed worse is still to come with over 2,390 NHS staff, including 988 nurses and midwives, expected to be axed next year.  That will bring the total cut in NHS staff to almost 6,400 with at least 2,700 nurses and midwives losing their jobs.

Scottish Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health Jackie Baillie MSP said:

“Before the election the SNP made great play of their promise to protect frontline NHS staff but these figures expose the fact that the SNP is allowing our NHS to hemorrhage staff, especially nurses, at an alarming rate.

“The SNP has cut the number of nurses to its lowest level since 2005 and even more nurses are set to lose their jobs next year. It is a disgrace that frontline nurses are being forced to bear the brunt of the SNP’s cuts. Nurses should be in our hospitals, and in our communities, not joining the dole queue.

"Scottish Labour wants to see resources going to support essential NHS staff doing a valuable job saving lives. The SNP need to stop kidding folk that they are protecting the NHS – cutting thousands of nurses will have a direct impact on our services and the quality of patient care."

30 August 2011