WE have long known the NHS faces staff shortages. In the National Health and Social Care Workforce Plan published recently by the Scottish Government, it was reported a shortfall of nurses and midwives is expected between 2017 and 2020.

The report went on to describe this period as what it calls “critical years,” because those extra nurses required would not complete their three years of university training in time. Clearly, keeping up with the demand for staff is proving a major challenge.

According to projections, the most likely scenario is that employers in Scotland will need around 62,400 nurses and midwives by 2021, an increase of around 2,600 staff compared to the size of the current workforce.

Faced with such an urgent demand for new nurses, an initiative by Dundee University that aims to tap into the male population for recruits is to be welcomed. Currently, less than ten per cent of students and applicants to nursing courses are men and staff and students from Dundee University’s School of Nursing feel now is the time to address this gender imbalance.

As Dr Anna Gavine, from the university’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences rightly points out, the shortage of men applying to nursing, means the NHS is losing out on many talented future staff.

As part of the Dundee initiative, students and health professionals will offer career advice and share their own experiences at an information stall today. Part of the challenge they will seek to address is that given the low numbers of male nurses, many men don’t see other men working in this role which helps reinforce stereotypes.

Evidence garnered from existing male nurses and male nursing students, suggests outdated views about men and women’s role in society has affected the type and number of role models available to male nurses. It has also stopped many men from applying.

By having male nurse role models, there is a greater chance some men attending the event will consider nursing as a career. The initiative is an approach many within the profession would like to see rolled out elsewhere.

As Health Secretary Shona Robison recently pointed out, while the NHS workforce is at a record size, demand for health and care services is expected to continue. As a result, other measures will also be required to keep pace with demand for nurses. Among these must be plans to extend and increase funding for programmes that allow nurses to return to practice and improve terms for the retention of existing nurses. All theses measures combined, the Scottish Government hopes will lead to a further 1,300 nurses and midwives working in Scotland.

With nursing and midwifery staff remaining by far the largest employee group in the NHS, renewed efforts now need to be made to show that a career in caring is not unattractive. It seems surprising greater efforts have not already been made to bring more men into the profession. The Dundee initiative will hopefully be the first of many.