Extent of locum usage revealed

And one MSP says the use of agency nurses is ‘unsustainable’. It comes after a freedom of information request by Scottish Labour showed the region spent £2.24 million on locum nurses in the last five years. And they went from covering 86 shifts in the year 2017-18, to 755 in 2021-22, while in 2018-19, they were used for 1533 shifts. South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth said the data shows a reliance on locum staff while nursing and midwifery vacancies continue to increase. He added: “Our health boards clearly have no other option other than to rely on locum nurses but it is not a long term solution. The NHS cannot continue to operate like this. “This recruitment crisis has happened because of 15 years of SNP Government mismanagement and a complete failure to train enough frontline NHS staff. “Anyone looking at these locum figures can see that this is an unsustainable way to manage NHS staffing.”