Nursing union concern over students unable to find work

A nursing union says it is "extremely concerning" that new recruits in Glasgow are being told to find work elsewhere.

The Royal College of Nursing was responding to reports that more than half of Glasgow Caledonian University's 200 students had been unable to secure placements within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC).

Figures from March this year showed the the health board had around 600 vacancies among nurses and midwives.

NHSGGC said more than 700 job offers had been made to nurses across in region in the past year.

However, the RCN said the difficulties students were having called into question the decision making of the health board.

Eileen McKenna, associate director of nursing policy, told the BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that paediatric nursing students, mental health nurses and adult nurses were all affected.

She said: "It is extremely concerning given the scale of staff shortages that are being reported on a daily basis.

"There still remains almost two and a half thousand nursing vacancies across Scotland.

"Is this a failure of workforce planning, or is it, more worryingly, a recruitment decision financially driven?"

NHS Scotland's March census showed NHSGGC spent £148.1m on bank and agency workers in the previous 12 months to fill staffing gaps.

Ms McKenna added that although the number of overall vacancies had fallen in Scotland from a high of around 4000 in 2023, there were still many posts needing filled.

She said: "We know the nursing workforce is seasonal - there is only one graduate point in time to recruit newly registered nurses, and then over the coming year the vacancies will start to rise.

"Why not recruit students when they are knowing the vacancies will be coming down the line?"

A NHSGGC spokesman said the health board carried out a "rigorous recruitment process" when hiring staff.

He added: "As a result, this year we have made more than 700 offers of employment to nurses across the board’s services.

“We understand that some applicants will be disappointed by the outcome of this process, but we continue to review vacancies throughout the year"

A Scottish government spokeswoman said the vacancies were a matter for each health board, based around factors such as absence rates and budgets.

She added: "This can mean that vacancies fluctuate across NHS Scotland boards and by specialism."

Caledonian University stated that data for graduates from 2021/22 showed 92% of graduates had found employment 15 months after finishing their course with 95% of those who provided job titles working as nurses.