At least five wards at Scotland’s showpiece hospital were forced to operate with just a single registered nurse on duty as the NHS crisis deepens.
The shortage on Monday evening at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital affected wards including gastroenterology, rheumatology and diabetes.
Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board wrote to staff asking them to “continue to support the nurse teams and where possible check in more frequently on the following wards … who will only have 1 Registered Nurse tonight”.
The email from Sharon Parrot, clincal service manager, Medicine South Sector, also told staff that the health board had asked admin workers to stay on to offer support by “answering phones, door buzzer etc”. She said the request would continue for the rest of the week.
Staff due on shift on Tuesday during the day were also asked to come in early to help night shift staff.
And she wrote: “Please note our nurse staffing position has been escalated via our general manager to the South Management Team and the Board.”
Last night, Labour’s health spokesman Jackie Baillie said: “Staffing is at such dangerous levels that patient safety is being compromised.
“Humza (Yousaf, health secretary) needs to stop sticking his head in the sand and act immediately before lives are lost.”
A hospital insider said: “If something is not done to address this soon, patients will die and the nurse left alone in charge of 30 patients will be the scapegoat.
“This is not just happening within the QEUH, it is a problem across hospitals throughout Glasgow, and probably the rest of Scotland.”
Norman Provan, associate director, Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said the staff shortages experienced at the QEUH and across Scotland’s health and social care services are “a serious concern”.
He said they had raised the issue with the health board and the Scottish Government.
Provan added: “We’re in this situation largely because of the failure of Scottish Government to address the nursing workforce crisis, which has seen vacancies reach a record high. Urgent action is needed to protect patient safety, address staff shortages and demonstrate the nursing workforce is valued as a safety critical profession.”
GMB Scotland organiser Karen Leonard said the conditions staff were being forced to endure were ”unacceptable to their health and welfare, and a clear risk to patient safety”.
She added: “Our members are turning up to shifts worried sick about what they’ll face that day. The environment NHS workers have to endure is impossible and has pushed them beyond breaking point.
“With a derisory pay offer for NHS staff which doesn’t go far enough and doesn’t concentrate the pay offer where there are staff shortages, the removal of Covid support measures for NHS workers and a cost-of-living crisis, the pressure health staff are facing is incredible.
“If they (Scottish Government) want to deliver the NHS that staff and patients expect, they need to deliver a pay deal that begins to address staff shortages and respects the frontline workers who are responding to the persisting challenges of the pandemic.”
An NHS GG&C spokesman said: “At all times, the safety and care of our patients alongside the wellbeing of our staff is our absolute priority. To help deal with current pressures, our sites have safety huddles throughout the day, where issues relating to patient care and safety are prioritised.
“We fully understand the significant pressures faced by our teams and we are sorry if any have been negatively impacted by the challenges.”
He said after the email was sent measures had been taken to allieviate some of the problems and that five wards were affected.
The spokesman claimed those were – ARU3, 2a, 5a, 6b and 8d – two gastroenterology wards, one for dermatology, one for rheumatology and a diabetes ward.
While he pointed out there were 19 staff on duty across all five wards, only one registered nurse (RN) was there for the entire shift on each ward.
Two of the wards did have an additional RN until 2am but they were left single-handed for the remainder of the shift.
The spokesman said: “Across our services, our priority is to ensure there are no gaps in staffing levels due to unplanned leave or vacancies. As is the case across the country, Covid-19 has presented unique staffing challenges.”
It is believed that there would normally be three nurses on duty per ward.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The pandemic continues to cause significant challenges with Covid-related absence in the NHS. We will continue to work with boards to enhance staffing levels and aid the recovery of our health service.”
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