Forward Planning Required to Secure Midwife Numbers
Scotland's NHS is facing another crisis, as a new report has revealed the country will face a significant shortage of midwives in the next few years if action is not taken to improve numbers,
The Royal College of Midwives has warned that Scotland is facing a major staffing shortfall in the coming years, with 40% of midwives approaching retirement. This is up by 10% in the last four years.
In its report, the RCM highlighted:
- the number of younger midwives in Scotland is falling.
- 56,725 babies were born in Scotland last year.
- the number of births to women in their early 40s has been above 2,000 (2,075 in 2014) in every year since 2008
- 148 babies were born in Scotland last year to women aged 45 or above, representing a five-fold increase since 2000
- the percentage of staff aged 50 or more rose from 32% of the workforce in 2011 to 42% in 2014.
Mark said:
“The Royal College of Midwives have revealed concerning figures that shows a staff ticking time-bomb.
“The SNP Government knew this was an issue four years ago when Nicola Sturgeon was Health Secretary, yet she reduced training places for midwives by a fifth and cut over 2,000 nursing jobs.
“This is just the latest example of the problems facing our NHS. In our own community we see staff shortages, services reduced or cut entirely and targets missed. Scottish Ministers must now act, not only to address the problem outlined by the RCM, but to get a grip of the NHS in Scotland.”
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