Cole-Hamilton comments on declining nursing applications

Responding to an embargoed report by the Royal College of Nursing about a falling number of applications for nursing courses, with over 1,000 fewer people applying to study nursing in 2025 compared to 2019, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

"For nineteen years, the SNP have made a dog's dinner of NHS staffing. These gaps stretch all the way back to Nicola Sturgeon cutting nursing training places and claiming that was sensible.

“Such a drastic fall in the number of people applying to be nurses and the sheer scale of the drop-out rate will have a serious impact on frontline services unless action is taken immediately.

“At the election, by backing the Scottish Liberal Democrats on your peach, regional ballot paper, you can vote for a new workforce plan that will boost the number of nurses, ensure every ward is safely staffed and deliver change with fairness at its heart."