London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, May 31, 2025

Audit Scotland: NHS staffing could threaten post-Covid recovery

Audit Scotland: NHS staffing could threaten post-Covid recovery

Scotland's NHS faces major staff recruitment and retention challenges as it emerges from the Covid pandemic, according to a spending watchdog.

Audit Scotland said the health service remained on an emergency footing as patient waiting lists soared.

The report also warns the health service will require reform if is to be financially sustainable.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said he wanted to build on the collaboration and innovation shown during the crisis.

But the BMA said the report highlighted the danger that recovery could be undermined by a lack of workforce planning.

And opposition MSPs accused the government of mismanaging the NHS long before the country's first confirmed Covid case in March 2020.

Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said recruiting the right levels of NHS staff had been a concern for many years.

He told BBC Scotland: "That feels even more challenging in the current context of both recovering from the pandemic and tackling the backlog.

"In our report we note that some of the vacancy rates are at the highest level for four years now, across nursing and midwifery and allied health professionals."

Mr Boyle said it remained to be seen if the government's recovery strategy could be realised, and he emphasised the importance of reliable data to inform workforce planning.

Auditor General Stephen Boyle said some NHS vacancy levels are the highest in four years


"One of the key conclusions in our report is that the NHS needs to reform to become more financially sustainable, rather than reinventing back to where we were before the pandemic on an already unsustainable model, " he said.

He suggested a sustainable long-term model would see a shift away from hospital care to a preventative primary care-based setting, where people were treated closer to home.

The report, NHS in Scotland 2021, urges the Scottish government and NHS boards to work together with partners in the social care sector to develop a solution for reducing delayed discharges from hospital, so-called bed-blocking.

It also calls for the publication of data on performance to ensure transparency about how NHS boards are managing their waiting lists.

On Tuesday it emerged the number of people on a hospital waiting list in Scotland has reached 538,000.

About one in 10 of those had been waiting for routine care such as knee and hip surgery for more than a year.

Opportunity for change


Assessing the NHS's finances, Audit Scotland found that an additional £2.9bn of funding was allocated in 2020-21 across health and social care, including £1.7bn for health boards.

The total health budget was £18bn - 35% of the Scottish Budget.

Despite this, 14 of the 22 NHS boards required additional Scottish government funding to achieve financial balance in 2020-21, with six boards facing a "particularly challenging financial position".

Those boards - NHS Ayrshire and Arran; NHS Borders; NHS Dumfries and Galloway; NHS Fife; NHS Highland; and NHS Orkney - have been submitting monthly plans to the Scottish government since last year about how they plan to achieve savings.

The health secretary paid tribute to the commitment of NHS staff


Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said the pandemic had put the NHS under the most severe pressure in its 73-year existence and echoed the report's praise for the "extraordinary commitment" shown by health and social care staff.

Mr Yousaf said staffing levels had reached a record high and pledged the NHS Scotland Recovery Plan would get more patients seen quickly and tackle the backlogs of care.

He said: "We agree with Audit Scotland that there is a clear opportunity to do things differently and build on the innovation and collaboration shown during the pandemic.

"That is why our work, including steps to improve data collection, and commitment to invest 20% more - £2.5bn - in our NHS will support recovery and reform," he said.

'Financially unsustainable'


Dr Lewis Morrison, chairman of BMA Scotland, said the report highlighted the need for an honest and open conversation with politicians, the profession and the public about what our NHS could deliver given the current limitations.

"Today's report also supports the view we have long held - and was clearly the case pre-pandemic - that the NHS in Scotland is financially unsustainable, and that position is worsening," he said.

He said there was a "clear danger" that a lack of proper workforce planning would undermine any possible NHS recovery.

Prof Andrew Elder, president of The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, voiced similar concerns - and said a clear strategy was needed to clear backlogs and improve non-Covid care - including life threatening conditions such as cancer.

What's been the political reaction?


The Scottish Conservatives said the report showed the government's "flimsy" Covid recovery plan was inadequate.

Health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: "There are huge vacancies across the health service yet we can't fill them because we don't have enough trained people to do so."

Mr Gulhane, who is also a GP, called for the cap to be removed on the number of places at Scottish universities for healthcare-related courses.

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie described the report as the most damning on the NHS since devolution

"The failure of Humza Yousaf's so-called NHS recovery plan is plain for all to see as 1 in 8 Scots languish on waiting lists, staff are exhausted and the NHS remains on emergency footing," she said.

Gillian Mackay, health spokeswoman for the Scottish Greens which have a co-operation with the SNP government, said the need for improved recruitment and retention of staff were key messages from the report.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the NHS and its staff were on the verge of burnout due to "botched workforce and pandemic planning".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
Russia's Fossil Fuel Revenues Approach €900 Billion Since Ukraine Invasion
U.S. Justice Department Reduces American Bar Association's Role in Judicial Nominations
U.S. Department of Energy Unveils 'Doudna' Supercomputer to Advance AI Research
U.S. SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Binance Amid Regulatory Shift
Alcohol Industry Faces Increased Scrutiny Amid Health Concerns
Italy Faces Population Decline Amid Youth Emigration
U.S. Goods Imports Plunge Nearly 20% Amid Tariff Disruptions
OpenAI Faces Competition from Cheaper AI Rivals
Foreign Tax Provision in U.S. Budget Bill Alarms Investors
Trump Accuses China of Violating Trade Agreement
Gerry Adams Wins Libel Case Against BBC
Russia Accuses Serbia of Supplying Arms to Ukraine
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
Chinese Woman Dies After Being Forced to Visit Bank Despite Critical Illness
President Trump Grants Full Pardons to Reality TV Stars Todd and Julie Chrisley
Texas Enacts App Store Accountability Act Mandating Age Verification
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Vatican Calls for Sustainable Tourism in 2025 Message
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on iPhones Amid Dispute with Apple CEO
Putin's Helicopter Reportedly Targeted by Ukrainian Drones
Liverpool Car Ramming Incident Leaves Multiple Injured
Australia Faces Immigration Debate Following Labor Party Victory
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
Macron Dismisses Viral Video of Wife's Gesture as Playful Banter
Cleveland Clinic Study Questions Effectiveness of Recent Flu Vaccine
Netanyahu Accuses Starmer of Siding with Hamas
Junior Doctors Threaten Strike Over 4% Pay Offer
Labour MPs Urge Chancellor to Tax Wealthy Over Cutting Welfare
Publication of UK Child Poverty Strategy Delayed Until Autumn
France Detains UK Fishing Vessel Amid Post-Brexit Tensions
Calls Grow to Resume Syrian Asylum Claims in UK
Nigel Farage Pledges to Reinstate Winter Fuel Payments
Boris and Carrie Johnson Welcome Daughter Poppy
×