Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 6 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that newly qualified nurses are able to access employment opportunities within NHS Grampian, in light of reported concerns about the limited availability of posts suitable for new graduates.
The Scottish Government’s role is to set the strategic policy direction for the NHS in Scotland. Operational matters, including local recruitment decisions, are the responsibility of each NHS Health Board as employers.
Whilst it is hoped that all graduates can join the NHS in their local area upon graduation, this is not always immediately possible. When a student is ready to graduate and cannot find employment with a local health board, universities will provide support and career guidance to assist the student in the consideration of all employment opportunities across health and social care.
As part of ongoing efforts to strengthen workforce planning across NHS Scotland, we have developed an internal panel (the Advisory Panel on Workforce Projections & Controlled Subject Intakes) to improve our healthcare student planning, ensuring we continue to fund the right number of healthcare training places across a range of disciplines.
In addition, we have tasked the NHS Scotland Centre for Workforce Supply to explore what further national support is required to promote employment opportunities in Scotland and we are working alongside the Scottish Executive Nurse Directors Group to identify what action can be taken to support newly qualified nurses to access employment in health and social care across the country.