Nearly 3000 nurses and midwives quit in Scotland last year
A report from the Nursing and Midwifery Council shows the actual overall number has increased by over 1000.
Almost 3,000 nurses and midwives in Scotland quit their jobs last year.
A report from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) showed that the number of nurses and midwives registered in Scotland has actually increased, to a total of 71,802 in March.
The figure is up by 1,013 on the previous year's total, and means Scotland has 2,893 more nurses than were on the register in March 2018.
The register shows the number of nurses and midwives eligible to practise - but not all those on it will currently be working.
Colin Poolman of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, meanwhile, said the country had seen the "lowest increase" of any of the four nations in the UK in terms of registered staff.
A total of 2,750 nurses and midwifes left the register in 2021-22 - with the number of leavers having increased after falling for two consecutive years previously.
Looking at the picture across the UK, Andrea Sutcliffe, NMC chief executive and registrar, said retirement and changing personal circumstances would always be the most common reasons for nurses and midwives to leave.
But she added: "Our latest report confirms the third most common reason was too much pressure, with stress and poor mental health being factors in many people's decision to stop practising.
"Midwives were the most likely to cite this reason, closely followed by mental health nurses."
To tackle this, Ms Sutcliffe said there must be a "focus on retention as well as attracting new recruits".
Meanwhile Colin Poolman, the director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland, insisted "urgent action" was needed to address workforce challenges.
He said: "While numbers of registered nurses are moving slowly upwards, Scotland has seen the lowest increase of the four nations and the loss of 2,750 nursing and midwifery staff is being felt across health and social care services.
"Staff shortages have been impacting on patient care and the wellbeing of nurses and nursing support workers, long before the pandemic.
"With over 6,000 nursing and midwifery vacancies in the NHS and significant shortages of registered nurses within Scotland's care homes, more must be done to retain current nursing staff and ensure nursing is attractive, well paid and meaningfully supported."
Mr Poolman added: "We're calling for urgent action to address Scotland's nursing workforce challenges. Nursing staff deserve to be recognised for the complexity of skill and expertise they demonstrate every day and rewarded fairly for the job they do."
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "There are vast numbers of unfilled vacancies for nurses. On the SNP's watch, nursing is simply not an attractive enough profession to attract the staff the NHS needs."
He said "urgent action" was needed to "put in place the workforce that the NHS needs to flourish".
Mr Cole-Hamilton said: "If Humza Yousaf can't do that, we will need a new Health Secretary."
A Scottish Government spokesman said staffing is at a "record high".
They said: "We are immensely grateful for the incredible efforts of all of our NHS and social care staff over the course of the pandemic.
"Staffing is at a record high level following ten consecutive years of growth, with overall staffing up by over 22% since 2006.
"Our national strategy commits to increasing the NHS workforce even further, with 1,800 additional full-time posts on top of projected workforce growth requirements.
"There has been an increase in the number of student midwifery places this year and the shortened midwifery course for existing staff is now opening for its second year, which will help deliver safe, effective quality care for women and their families, as well as developing our existing workforce.
"The £10,000 non-means tested and non-repayable bursary and free tuition, combined with placement expenses and free uniforms for eligible students, make student nurses and midwives studying in Scotland the best-supported in the UK.
"To maintain our staffing levels, it is critical staff wellbeing is looked after and they are able to take the rest breaks and leave to which they are entitled, as well as being given time to access national and local wellbeing resources at work.
"That is why we made £12 million available in 2021-22 to support the mental health and wellbeing of the workforce."
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