VACANCIES within Scotland’s NHS have reportedly hit record levels, with more than 500 consultant positions and almost 5,000 jobs in nursing and midwifery vacant.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland demanded action today as it emerged that vacancies within nursing and midwifery in June this year amounted to the whole time equivalent of 4,854.4 posts.

That is the highest number ever, the union claimed, with the current total meaning that 7.1 per cent of roles are unfilled.

RCN Scotland said that the vacancy rates in some areas meant that more than one in 10 positions were empty.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf claimed that staffing levels in Scotland’s NHS have actually reached a record high, with the workforce having grown by over 20 per cent under the SNP government.

With RCN Scotland currently locked in a pay dispute with the government, union leaders insisted that a fair pay rise was needed to “retain and recruit the nursing workforce Scotland needs.”

The union’s Scotland board chair Julie Lamberth said: “Extra funding for additional beds and diagnostic centres will be of no use if we don’t have the staff, and most often that means nursing staff, to run them.”