Calls for more senior nurses in Scotland

A nursing union is warning Scotland will need more senior nurses on higher pay to meet the challenges of a seven day NHS or patient safety may be at risk.

The Royal College of Nursing said senior decision-making nurses such as senior charge nurses, specialist nurses and advanced nurse practitioners will be crucial to the successful delivery of seven day care.

It has urged the Scottish Government to put money into proper training, warning that nurses cannot just be thrown into senior roles as this is 'neither fair, nor safe for the individual nurse, the nursing team or their patients'.

Speaking ahead of the RCN conference in Bournemouth today, RCN Scotland director Theresa Fyffe said: 'Last year, we published the nursing contribution to seven day care, which sets out a series of nursing solutions and the contribution that nurses can - and should - make to achieve the Scottish Government's ambitions around the provision of seven day care. As the biggest single workforce in the NHS, nurses are crucial to the successful delivery of seven-day care, particularly senior decision-making nurses such as senior charge nurses, specialist nurses and advanced nurse practitioners (ANPs).'

She added: 'The Scottish Government therefore needs to invest in developing these nurses for the future and health boards must renumerate them at Band 7 or above, if seven-day care is to become a reality and the NHS to be sustainable for the future.'