Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Retirement timebomb: NHS Highland’s ‘urgent need’ for younger workers

Just 400 of the health board's 11,500 workers are under 24 years old.

NHS Highland sign outside Assynt House in Inverness.
NHS Highland is seeking alternative provision

NHS Highland chiefs say there’s an “urgent need” to recruit younger staff, amid concerns about its ageing workforce.

The health board has around 11,500 members of staff.

But fewer than 400 are aged 24 or under — with the average worker double this age.

Approximately half of these young recruits work in nursing and midwifery.

Papers discussed by the NHS Highland board yesterday say there are “multiple critical issues” which need to be addressed.

These centre around the training time required for roles, the loss of experienced colleagues and the impact of more physical roles on an older workforce.

Bosses say it’s “vital” that managers know what’s lying ahead so they can better plan for succession or retention and keep services running.

This is particularly crucial in remote and rural areas, they say, “where the fragility of small teams is high.”

‘Significant number’ at or over retirement age

NHS Highland says the median age of its workforce is 48 – meaning half its workers are older than this, and half are younger.

While this hasn’t changed since Covid, it does have more over-55s on its books than it did before the pandemic.

Raigmore Hospital. Image: Sandy McCook/ DC Thomson
Raigmore Hospital. Image: Sandy McCook/ DC Thomson

And the average retirement age has increased from 61 to 63, highlighting “a risk to the sustainability of the workforce”.

Overall the health board employs more than 2,000 people who are over 57 years old, including 1,000 over 61.

It says the lower pay bands – one and two – have the highest proportion of staff working past the average retirement age.

‘Retire and return’ policy could keep older staff in workforce

The health board says it’s continuing to investigate better methods of succession and wider workforce planning.

It’s also launching a retire and return policy to find ways to keep older staff in “safe and manageable” roles, rather than losing their experience and knowledge.

At yesterday’s board meeting, chief executive Pam Dudek spoke more broadly about NHS Highland’s approach to equal opportunities.

NHS Highland chief executive Pam Dudek. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson
NHS Highland chief executive Pam Dudek. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson

This includes its support of under-represented groups who may have “traditionally struggled” with finding work.

“A health pathway has been introduced with S4-and-above students at schools across the Highlands,” she said.

“And 29 young people have signed up for that.”

She added that senior managers want to gather insights about people’s experiences so they can construct a plan for what comes next.

Conversation