DAMNING TESTIMONY OF SCOTTISH NURSES SHOWS NEED FOR NEW DIRECTION TO SAVE OUR NHS

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “The Royal College of Nursing has today published a damning report that lays bare the impact of this crisis on NHS patients and staff.

“It has revealed that nurses are delivering care in overcrowded or unsuitable places like corridors, cupboards and even car parks on a daily basis.

“Staff are caring for multiple patients in a single corridor, unable to access oxygen, cardiac monitors and other lifesaving equipment.

“Patients are going into cardiac arrest while in a corridor.

“Incontinent patients are left with no privacy.

“And almost 90% of nurses say patient safety is being compromised.

“Nurses describe flu patients waiting in corridors next to vulnerable patients or having to discuss their miscarriage with a couple in an overcrowded corridor.

“One nurse said: “I worked throughout Covid-19 and although that was a horrendous experience this lack of care in the broken system is worse.”

“The RCN in Scotland has called this a “wakeup call for the Scottish government.”

“This is what Scottish nurses are saying: “It is demoralising, frustrating and embarrassing. It feels like patients are a number not a patient.”

“Another Scottish nurse: “It’s degrading and unsafe as these locations are not designed or intended for patient care and offer little or no privacy.”

“Another Scottish nurse: “I have had to give IV antibiotics on a chair beside the nurses station to someone septic.”

“And another Scottish nurse: “I am now in the process of leaving the NHS… it is fraying at the seams and has left me with mental health problems and trauma.”

“This is the sad reality of our NHS under the SNP.

“John Swinney and this SNP Government can’t fix the mess they have made and only a new direction can save our NHS.”