Scotsman articles highlight Scottish nursing "crisis"
April 22, 2003 -- A piece by
David Scott in The Scotsman dated today describes efforts to
address the severe nursing shortage now affecting patient care
in Scotland. The article focuses on government efforts to provide
higher pay and better working conditions for Scottish nurses
to prevent them from being lured away by English "foundation" hospitals,
which could make the Scottish nursing shortage even worse. Two
Scotsman articles dated March 11 discussed the severity of the
shortage, with one (unsigned)
piece citing a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) estimate of a
shortfall of 15,000 nurses over the next five years. The other
article by
Tara Womersley quoted Tracey McFall, the chairwoman of RCN Scotland,
as saying that "[n]ursing in Scotland is in crisis. Seven
out of ten nurses in Scotland say there are not enough nurses
to provide a good standard of care, and the workload is a major
reason why nurses are leaving the [National Health Service]."