Theresa Fyffe: Primary care nurses are being stretched to the limit

Theresa Fyffe is director of the Royal College of Nursing Scotland (Picture: Angus Forbes)

The Primary Care Workforce Survey, published this week, shows a welcome increase in the number of GP-employed nurses and health care support workers (HCSW).

However, the survey also highlights a number of challenges facing the workforce. Rising nurse numbers conceal the pressures of increasing vacancies and an ageing workforce – with more than half of nurses working in GP practices aged 50 years or over.

This raises questions about the plans in place to mitigate the impact of a significant portion of the nursing workforce reaching retirement and the already high vacancy rates in community nursing.

The Scottish Government will only deliver on the reduction in GP workload – as set out in the new GP contract – by addressing the recruitment and retention challenges across all aspects of the primary care workforce. The Scottish Government also needs to be clear on the definition of primary care – the information published in the survey reflects the position in GP practices and out-of-hours services – so the survey does not cover the entire breadth of primary care.