Scotland's health boards spent an “eye-watering” £236million in one year on bank and agency nurses to plug NHS staffing gaps, figures show.

Statistics published by the Scottish Government have revealed there was an 11.3% rise in spend to cover rota gaps in the year up to March 2021, after the pandemic took hold.

Scottish Labour said the figures were symptomatic of a nursing workforce “on the brink” and said the taxpayer was paying a heavy price for SNP workforce planning failures.

A recent study from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has shown that since 2011-12, bank nursing has increased by 58.9%, rising to 5,018.9 WTE in 2020-21.

A spokesman for the RCN said the pandemic had led to “off the scale” staff absences but added: “The bottom line is that Scotland does not have the nursing staff it requires to deliver care to all who need it. “

The Scottish Government said spend on agency nursing in Scotland represents less than 1% of the overall staffing budget with the majority of temporary staffing comes from the NHS Staff Bank.

The skyrocketing bill for agency and bank staff comes as more than 6,600 WTE nursing and midwifery vacancies are reported across Scotland’s NHS.

READ MORE: 'Absolutely dire': Medics concern as patients wait days for emergency treatment 

Scottish Labour health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “The facts are clear for all to see – the SNP’s complete failure to support our nursing workforce has led to yawning chasms in staffing levels and an eyewatering bill on the public purse.

“Make no mistake, this is the price of SNP failure.

“Scotland’s heroic nursing workforce go above and beyond for patients everyday, but they are being failed by a government unwilling to act.

 “If we are to get to grips with this crisis in nurse staffing, we need a proper plan to get the skilled nursing staff we need – including incentivising agency and bank nurses into the ranks of our NHS.

“Failure to act now will only lead to a soaring cost to the taxpayer and even more pressure on our overworked nursing staff.”

Norman Provan, Associate Director of the RCN said it was “no surprise” that health boards were having to resort to agency staff given the pressures of the pandemic, high sickness absence rates and record numbers of nursing vacancies.

READ MORE: Covid vaccine app should be 'first step' in public owning full medical records, says professor 

However, he said the situation was not sustainable in the long term and said the use of agency workers was disruptive to continuity of care.

He said: “There are nearly 5,000 nursing and midwifery vacancies in the NHS alone. Scotland’s care home sector is experiencing a similar struggle to fill permanent nursing posts.

“Some investment in agency nursing will always be needed to cover unexpected events and ensure safe patient care, but health boards cannot continue to ratchet up spending on agency nurses. 

“It is not sustainable and the lack of continuity for nursing teams can impact on the quality of care and on staff morale. 

 “The bottom line is that Scotland does not have the nursing staff it requires to deliver care to all who need it. 

“A structured approach to workforce planning which includes action to retain experienced nursing staff and to make nursing an attractive, well paid, career choice and implementation of the safe staffing legislation, is necessary.”

READ MORE: Major care home provider first to scrap 12-hour shifts and offer four-day week 

It comes after doctors warned in The Herald that spiralling A&E delays have seen some patients wait over three days for a bed, while others have suffered broken hips in falls from emergency room trolleys.

Doctors warned that the true scale of delays and harm is not being reflected in official statistics, with one comparing the sleep deprivation and delirium suffered by elderly patients to “torture”.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “Spend on agency nursing in Scotland represents less than 1% of the overall staffing budget with the majority of temporary staffing comes from the NHS Staff Bank – which has NHS staff on NHS contracts. 

“We are fully aware of the difficult circumstances that boards and front-line staff are working in, which is why we have worked hard to ensure that our NHS maintains the increased numbers of staff we’ve seen over the past 10 consecutive years. 

“Nursing and midwifery staff numbers are at record high levels across the country - up by 14.5%. 

“We have also continued our long term investment in nursing and midwifery education, with record numbers of funded places this academic year. 

“Student nurses and midwives entering funded degree programmes will increase for the tenth consecutive year in 2022-23, meaning student places have doubled in the last decade.

 “We have also committed over £1 billion to our NHS Recovery Plan, and £300 million which was announced last winter to support additional recruitment, which is already paying off.”