NHS Scotland chief executive Paul Gray is asked by Acting Committee Convener Jackie Ballie about comments on a previous committee that there was no coherent plan for the NHS workforce in place.

Mr Gray says: "There is a coherent plan. We have already published part one of that plan, there are two parts still to come.

He says:"Is it nice to have or essential? It's essential. We wouldn't do it if it wasn't essential."

Mr Gray says that "decisions made 15 years ago are different than ones made now", and puts forward three reasons for changes in decision making.

• Changes in clinical practice.
• Changes in our approach in multi-disciplinary teams.
• Contextual issues such as Brexit.

Scotland's government and health boards have failed to plan effectively for long-term staffing challenges, Audit Scotland has said.

Overall staffing in NHS Scotland is at a record high, but auditors said the government must plan ahead better, external to "urgently address workforce issues".

It said there were signs NHS services were "under increasing stress".

The Scottish government said it was committed to having the right mix of skills and staff in the right places.

Image source, Science Photo Library

But opposition parties said the "damning" report was confirmation of a "deepening workforce crisis" in the health service.

The new report, the first part of a two-stage audit of workforce planning in Scotland's NHS, examined clinical staffing in hospitals and other secondary care settings.

Image source, Thinkstock

It found that health boards "consistently underestimate" the number of staff they need, while the Scottish government had "not yet adequately estimated what impact increasing and changing demand for NHS services could have on the workforce or skills required to meet this need".

The report comes after medical leaders urged decision-makers to be "courageous" over NHS reform in future budgets, amid warnings from unions that "the NHS in Scotland isn't getting the resources it needs".

Read more here.

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Acting Committee convener Jackie Baillie gets us underway by introducing the witnesses.

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The Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee, external will shortly take evidence on NHS workforce planning from:

• NHS Scotland chief executive Paul Gray
• Shirley Rogers, director of health workforce and strategic change, with the Scottish government
• Scotland's chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood

Image source, Audit Scotland

This follows the publication of the Auditor General publication 'NHS workforce planning: The clinical workforce in secondary care', external.

MSPs will shortly take evidence on NHS workforce planning from Chief Medical Officer Catherine Calderwood.

Scottish government ministers will be quizzed during general questions.

We'll then bring you extensive coverage of Nicola Sturgeon facing questions, from opposition party leaders and MSPs, during first minister's questions

Image source, Scottish Parliament

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