Question reference: S5W-34564
- Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 14 January 2021
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 29 January 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many clinicians have volunteered to support the NHS outwith their working hours since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they have been supported to do this.
Answer
NHS Scotland's staffing levels are at a record high, with 19,500 more whole time equivalent staff members working in our NHS under this Government.
Decision on the deployment of clinicians within NHS Scotland are the responsibility of individual NHS Boards. The Scottish Government does not hold data on how many clinicians have volunteered to support the NHS outwith their working hours since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, ensuring staff have adequate rest and recuperation is also a top priority, and something which employers, including NHS Boards, must take seriously and work continues with boards and key stakeholders to put and sustain practical measure in place in this regard.