Scottish finance secretary Kate Forbes has been criticised for not increasing funding for the implementation of safe staffing rules in the health service.

A 2019 staffing law, which was described as ‘ground-breaking’ when it was passed by MSPs, places legal requirements on NHS boards to ensure there are enough staff in place to provide safe care.

But funding to support the ongoing implementation of the Act was frozen at 2021-22 levels in the Scottish budget – equating to real-terms cut, while £1.2m of the £6.3m total has been transferred into health board budgets.

Colin Poolman, Interim Director of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “We are concerned that the funding could be swallowed up within the boards but also the lack of any significant increase – even adjusting for inflation – demonstrates that implementation of the Act is not a priority for government”.

Last week’s draft Scottish budget saw record increases for health and social care, with funding for the care sector more than doubling.

Unions and staff groups called for the new funding to be directed to addressing longstanding recruitment challenges.

BMA Scotland Chair Lewis Morrison said: “More funding is to be welcomed but the real issue is the lack of people and without more doctors and other healthcare staff recovering to pre-Covid levels of activity let alone achieving a manifesto promise of an increase is simply not deliverable. So, a plan for a real increase in staffing has to follow the money.”

Figures published earlier this year revealed the shortfall between the number of registered nurses needed to run NHS Scotland and the number actually employed has grown to its highest level ever.

The Scottish government is funding enhanced international recruitment, setting a target of at least 200 registered nurses from abroad by March 2022, and new routes into health service careers in a bid to address staffing shortages.

Earlier this month experts warned of “chronic” staffing gaps in maternity services, which is an area being targeted in a country-wide recruitment campaign.

Colin Poolman called on the Scottish government to make changes to address staffing issues in the final budget:

“It is disappointing that the budget fails to commit significant additional funding for implementation of the safe staffing legislation. Sustainable solutions to workforce shortages are needed to ensure that care can be provided safely, with the right staff in the right place at the right time. 

“Nursing staff are worse off in real terms now than 10 years ago and with over 5,000 nursing and midwifery jobs vacant, the government cannot afford to let more leave over low pay and unsafe staffing levels.”

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