NHS Scotland has 25% more nurses per head than the UK and more than almost everywhere in the world but a Scottish newspaper doesn’t want you thinking the SNP can cope with anything

By Professor John Robertson:

From the World Health Organisation in May 2024 but based on , nursing and midwifery personnel per 10 000 population with England and Scotland latest data inserted separately:

There are another 20 or so countries with even fewer nurses per head than India at 17 nurses per 10 000 people but with a space programme to make up for that.

But, from the Daily Record‘s Andrew Quinn, yesterday this sad cringing piece:

The UK has fewer nurses per head than its European neighbours, according to SNP-commissioned analysis. The House of Commons library research showed the UK has lagged behind its European neighbours since the turn of the century.

But it also revealed that Scotland is behind many other countries in north-west Europe in terms of nurse numbers. The UK had fewer than nine practising nurses per 1,000 people [90 per 10 000] in 2022. In England there were nearly seven nurses per 1,000 people, while there were nearly 12 per 1,000 [120 per 10 000] in Scotland.

Every other country in north west Europe had more nurses per head than the UK as a whole. Scotland had less than Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Iceland, the Republic of Ireland, and Germany. https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/uk-fewer-nurses-per-head-33961132

Source:

https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/nursing-and-midwifery-personnel-(per-10-000-population)

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6 thoughts on “NHS Scotland has 25% more nurses per head than the UK and more than almost everywhere in the world but a Scottish newspaper doesn’t want you thinking the SNP can cope with anything”

  3. The Record’s headline in full is: ‘UK has fewer nurses per head than neighbouring European countries – EXCLUSIVE: Scotland is behind many other countries in north-west Europe in terms of nurse numbers.’

    It’s a fine example of the care taken in framing what will be the most read part of this story – the UK has ‘fewer than neighbouring countries’ and Scotland has fewer than ‘many other’ countries while avoiding headlining the fact that Scotland has more (better) than its neighbouring country, England and more than the equivalent figure for the whole of the UK.

    But what about Wales, that country long governed in Cardiff by the Record’s favoured British Labour Party – after all before 2026 we in Scotland need to be aware of the track record of the British Labour Party governing with only devolved powers.

    The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) reported in 2023 on the NHS Wales workforce (hhttps://www.rcn.org.uk/Professional-Development/publications/rcn-nursing-in-numbers-english-uk-pub-011-188 ) I don’t have time now to comment on its findings regarding staff numbers (they can be found in the report), but this from the RCN suggests British Labour Party government in Wales is not without ‘problems’!

    ‘In 2022/23, health boards spent a total of £161.2m on agency nursing. This is a 21% increase since 2021/2022, during which health boards spent £133.4m – itself a 41% increase on the year before.

    ‘…. since 2016/2017, spending on nursing and midwifery agency staff has very nearly tripled over the same period.’

    I understand British Labour Party MSPs have solutions for the NHS, to staffing issues and more, but notwithstanding warm words about ‘solidarity’, it seems they have so far decided not to share their worked out solutions with party colleagues in Wales. Perhaps the Daily Record – in the spirit of its favoured British Labour Party solidarity – could help with sharing.

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    1. “it seems they have so far decided not to share their worked out solutions with party colleagues in Wales”

      Indeed and also not been asked by the media why that is ?

      Because as they , Labour in Scotland, condemn the SNP for what Labour say are their ‘mistakes’ in the Scottish NHS then the media should ask Labour how they would then overcome the areas in the NHS that they, Labour, say are failing.

      Let’s be honest it is pointless criticising something or someone else if you yourself have no solution or no plan to rectify and alter how thing are , so that there are at least , some or many supposed improvements or even a total transformation.

      Strange is it not how they, Labour in Scotland, mouth off and list what they say are ‘mistakes’ others are making (SNP) yet with Labour being one party throughout the UK , Labour in Scotland do not apparently want to share their supposed expertise with their colleagues in Wales on the NHS.

      If one were cynical one would think they, Labour in Scotland, had no real plan or actual solution to “fix things” (to quote Wes Streeting) on the NHS but instead were just “playing politics” at the SNP’s expense.

      Talking of Wes Streeting, the English Health Secretary, he said the “English NHS is broken”

      Cue Scottish Labour..

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  4. Pingback: Glenn Campbell and the ‘significant underperformance in key public services like the NHS’ that does not survive a collision with the evidence – Talking-up Scotland

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