A year ago our members, Scotland’s nurses and nursing support workers, took the historic decision to vote in favour of strike action – a first in our College’s century-long history.

This was not a decision that sat easily with our members, but it was the culmination of decades of being understaffed and undervalued and having given their all in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Strike action was narrowly averted with the promise of reforms to the Agenda for Change Framework and a Ministerial Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce that would deliver long-term, sustainable solutions to the nursing workforce crisis.

The Scottish Government must deliver on these promises and next month’s Budget provides the opportunity to do just that.

I know our members will be watching with interest as the Deputy First Minister sets out the spending priorities for the year ahead.

These priorities must include the funding to deliver on the reforms of the Agenda for Change pay structure, agreed as part of the 2023/24 NHS pay deal, as well as setting out an approach to NHS pay for 2024/25 and beyond. An approach that genuinely values the clinical skills, knowledge and expertise of nurses and nursing support workers and recognises their critical role in providing safe patient care.

The Budget must also ensure the Ministerial Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce has the necessary funding to be able to make the changes needed. There is too much at stake for the Taskforce to be only a token gesture. How to attract more people into nursing; how to ensure nursing staff stay healthy at work and their working life does not have a negative impact on their wellbeing; how to create a workplace culture that allows staff to thrive and perform at their best; how to support our nursing staff to develop and provide the career opportunities that allow them to grow and lead within Scotland’s health and social care services - these are the big questions that the Taskforce is grappling with.

If we are to see significant improvements in staff retention and increases in the number of people choosing to study nursing, and to see Scotland’s NHS and social care services reach a point where safe nurse staffing levels are the norm rather than the exception, long-term investment is required.

While the Deputy First Minister has said health will be protected, this does not go far enough.

Yes, we will need to look at doing things differently. We do need to have a realistic conversation with the public about expectations, access to services and what is achievable. Nursing staff are not afraid of innovation or change, in fact they embrace and lead this. They are also not afraid to take a stand and speak up for their patients and profession. We cannot afford not to be investing now to protect the future of our health and social care services and the nursing profession.

Colin Poolman is Director of the Royal College of Nursing, Scotland