NHS Fife has lost more than 100 nursing posts in nine months, according to new figures released by the health service.
There were 3,484 wholetime equivalent nursing and midwifery staff in March 2011, but by the end of the year that number had fallen by 118.
The sharp drop in nurse numbers came to light after the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) told a Scottish Parliament committee that ”financial pressures are clearly impacting on patient services and staff locally.”
Speaking after the Holyrood health committee hearing, Colin Poolman, RCN officer for Fife, said: ”The challenge for the health board now will be to ensure that it has the correct number of nurses and health care support workers in post as it consolidates its acute hospital services and shifts more health services to be delivered in the community rather than in hospitals.
”We will be monitoring future decisions by NHS Fife and challenging them where we think changes to the workforce put at risk standards in patient care.”
Last week the Courier revealed NHS Fife is being forced to make efficiency savings of £17.5 million.
Labour MSP Helen Eadie said: ”I’m absolutely appalled by these figures showing a fall in the number of nurses in Fife. I can now understand why so many things seem to be going wrong in our hospitals.
”Efficiency saving are just shorthand for cuts and there is no doubt this is now having an impact on the number of frontline nursing staff.”
Rona King, NHS Fife’s director of human resources, said the health board has recently recruited 25 nurses to shore up numbers.
She added: ”Any reductions in our workforce are in line with the published workforce plan and take account of the changes in services across NHS Fife.”