The Royal College of Nursing says the next Scottish government should invest in ensuring nurses working in Scotland’s care homes have the same salary scales, career paths, pay and conditions as their NHS counterparts. In its manifesto ahead of the Holyrood elections, RCN Scotland says policymakers have to stop neglecting nurses working in social care if current recruitment and retention problems are to be fixed.

According to RCN Scotland, there are some 25% fewer registered nurses working in Scotland’s care homes now compared with 2013, and over half of care homes say they have at least one unfilled vacancy for a registered nurse.

Colin Poolman, Director of RCN Scotland says nurses working in care homes feel they are being left behind:

“I think they feel a bit forgotten a lot of the time around not only pay but terms and conditions – a real issue within nursing homes – and access to training and support.

“They're providing the most wonderful care. If anybody has been in a nursing home, they will have seen what a difference registered nurses make to people who are living in care homes across Scotland.

“Indeed, our Nurse of the Year last year was a manager in a care home who does a fantastic job leading a team of very dedicated individuals to deliver high quality care for people who have multiple comorbidities, whose health and care needs are quite complex.”

RCN Scotland says healthcare delivered in communities – across community services, district nursing, health visiting, school nursing, community mental health, learning disabilities, palliative care, general practice, hospices and care homes – needs to be seen as one, with investment in growing the role of nurses across these settings.

In particular, it singles out the need for there to be a significant increase in the number of registered nurses in adult care homes.

“We have seen a real reduction in registered nurses in nursing homes and care homes across Scotland over a number of years,” says Colin Poolman.

“Part of that is about pay and conditions, and also access to professional development. And I don’t think we see those people who devote their careers to working in adult and older adult care homes getting the recognition they deserve.

“We have seen care home owners and operators struggling as employers because of the way that the contracts are set up. They can't compete with the NHS. So, how can they retain their staff if they can’t pay them as much as the NHS?”

Last week the RCN alongside hospice organisations welcomed the additional funding in the Scottish budget to allow salaries for healthcare professionals in hospices to be matched to NHS Agenda for Change scales.

healthandcare.scot asked Mr Poolman if pay for nurses in care settings should also mirror Agenda for Change scales?

“I absolutely believe that would be an appropriate thing to do,” says Colin Poolman.

“It would be far reaching, of course, and it would cost money. But what you would then be doing is valuing equally people who work across the whole of health and social care.

“If you are talking about moving the balance of care from acute to primary and secondary care to communities, unless you can recruit the appropriate workforce and retain them, you're not going to be able to do that.

“There is talk at the moment around the new Employment Rights Act ensuring the Real Living Wage is paid in this sector. I think it's really perverse, when we are considering the people who look after the most vulnerable in our society, that we would pay them the worst. That doesn't seem sensible to me.

“So, when councils and the government are going through contracting, there should be enough money to ensure people are paid properly. And if that were to happen, I think it would be a major step forward in recruiting, and retention, within the sector.”

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