Scottish Labour MSP Foysol Choudhury has raised concerns about the need to increase support to overworked maternity and midwifery nurses in NHS Lothian.
Statistics obtained by Scottish Labour have shown that in 2022/23, a staggering 3,366 hours of overtime were worked by staff in maternity and midwifery units in NHS Lothian, which has soared by 117% since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Choudhury said: “NHS staff are working tirelessly to provide the care that people need but they should not have to work so much overtime to plug the gaps in staffing.
“This pressure on staff can lead to burn out- we should not be working our NHS heroes into the ground like this.”
Mr Choudhury says he had previously received concerns from his constituents about safe and sustainable staffing in maternity settings, which he raised with the Minister at the time, and that discovering these figures about local midwifery and maternity unit workers’ overtime hours now has reignited his concerns.
Mr Choudhury added: “Enough is enough – it’s time for the SNP government to wake up and act before this crisis gets worse.
“I’ll be making it a priority in 2024 to press for action, for the sake of both NHS staff and patients.”