By Lucy Ashton
The SNP is driving NHS staff to burnout and putting patients at risk, Scottish Labour has warned after new figures suggest key frontline workers working on understaffed shifts on more than 340,000 occasions last year.
There were approximately 348,675 unfilled nurse, doctor or midwife shifts in 2024, according to FOI data obtained by Scottish Labour, with 333,296 unfilled nurse and midwife shifts alone.
A nurse looking knackered at the end of her shift
This suggests that on average, NHS managers were struggling to fill more than 900 shifts every day — although in reality some days may have been more understaffed than others.
The numbers are an estimate as not all health boards held data on unfilled medical shifts, whilst some nursing and midwifery figures relate to financial rather than calendar years.
However, they point to the scale of the NHS workforce crisis, as the shifts do not include those that were originally uncovered but filled by agency or bank staff.
The data adds to the warnings already made by nurses and doctors that understaffing is leading to burnout and reducing patient safety.
In a report published earlier this year, the Royal College of Nursing Scotland warned that in the 12 months to May 2025 “at no point has NHS Scotland employed the number of nursing staff needed to deliver safe and effective care”.
Scottish Labour’s Health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “Working an NHS shift has always been demanding but these alarming figures show our doctors, nurses and midwives are stretched beyond their limit — with patients suffering as a result.
“Our hardworking NHS staff will always do their best but they are let down by an SNP government that fritters away millions on expensive agency staff while leaving doctors without jobs and patients at risk.
“The SNP Government is driving NHS staff to the point of burnout — it must deal with this workforce crisis before it becomes a doom loop.
“Scottish Labour will deliver a proper workforce plan for our NHS so that doctors, nurses and midwives can do the job they are trained to do and patients get the treatment they need.
Unfilled doctor shifts
|
Health Board |
2024 |
|
NHS Ayrshire & Arran |
77 |
|
NHS Borders |
|
|
NHS Dumfries & Galloway |
|
|
NHS Fife |
|
|
NHS Forth Valley |
615 |
|
NHS Grampian |
|
|
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde |
9415 |
|
NHS Highland |
17 |
|
NHS Lanarkshire |
3088 |
|
NHS Lothian |
2146 |
|
NHS Orkney |
|
|
NHS Shetland |
|
|
NHS Tayside |
21 |
|
NHS Western Isles |
|
|
Total |
15379 |
|
Health Boards |
2024 |
|
NHS Ayrshire & Arran |
22866 |
|
NHS Borders* |
7898 |
|
NHS Dumfries & Galloway |
588 |
|
NHS Fife |
15687 |
|
NHS Forth Valley |
16401 |
|
NHS Grampian |
61194 |
|
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde |
84910 |
|
NHS Highland |
9637 |
|
NHS Lanarkshire |
42862 |
|
NHS Lothian* |
56,118 |
|
NHS Orkney |
Not held |
|
NHS Shetland |
0 |
|
NHS Tayside |
14193 |
|
NHS Western Isles* |
942 |
|
Total |
333296 |
*Data recorded by financial year, not calendar year.
Source: Scottish Labour FOIs
“Safe and effective levels of registered nurse staffing are critical to patient safety, outcomes and experience. Therefore, resolving the nursing workforce crisis remains vital for addressing the wider issues and to ensure that services can deliver their full potential… Our analysis in this, our fourth workforce report, shows that while the gap between planned staffing and actual staffing has reduced, at no point has NHS Scotland employed the number of nursing staff needed to deliver safe and effective care.”
Royal College of Nursing Scotland: The Nursing Workforce in Scotland 2025