Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce
Building a sustainable and skilled workforce.
An expert group has been set up to improve working conditions for nurses and boost workforce numbers.
Chaired by the Health Secretary, the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce will include recognised nursing and midwifery workforce experts, alongside academia, NHS and Scottish Government representatives. The Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives will also be represented, among others.
It will build on efforts to make Scotland the best place for nurses and midwives to come and work by developing plans for the retention of the existing nursing workforce, as well as looking at recruitment.
Among the issues the Taskforce will consider are: building exemplary workforce cultures; addressing operational barriers; and improving working conditions, facilities and learning opportunities. The Taskforce will also support implementation of the National Health and Social Care Workforce Strategy.
Healthcare staff across Scotland have already been offered the largest pay package in the history of the NHS, with an average 6.5% increase in pay as part of a £568 million offer to unions for 2023-24 – ensuring staff in Scotland remain the best paid in the UK.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said:
“Our nursing and midwifery staff have repeatedly shown their commitment to the NHS and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude, particularly for their efforts during the pandemic.
“Last year we awarded them a record pay rise and the new Taskforce will help ensure that Scotland’s nurses and midwives are not only the best paid in the UK, but they have the best conditions and career opportunities as well.”
The Chief Nursing Officer, Professor Alex McMahon and the Chief Midwifery Officer, Justine Craig have both welcomed the creation of the Taskforce.
Professor McMahon said:
“The Taskforce brings the opportunity to develop a plan that will support both professions in Scotland as we consider how to improve working conditions for nurses and boost workforce numbers.”
Ms Craig said:
“We look forward to working with the Cabinet Secretary and other members in driving forward the ambition to build a sustainable and skilled nursing and midwifery workforce of the future; to create attractive and rewarding careers and fundamentally to allow them to deliver care to the standards to which they aspire.”
Background
The Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce will not look at matters that pertain formally to pay, terms and conditions reform, including implementation of the non-pay elements agreed as part of the 22/23 Agenda for Change pay deal.
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