New figures have revealed a shock 57% rise in long-term nursing vacancies at NHS Grampian over the past year.
The official statistics from NHS Scotland showed there were 115 posts which had been vacant for more than three months in March 2015 – and 180 in March this year.
There is a shortage of paediatric and district nurses.
There are a total of 411 vacancies in nursing and midwifery at the health board, with 231 posts having been vacant for less than three months.
The north-east has struggled to attract public sector staff because of the historically high cost of living in the region.
Last night Aberdeenshire West MSP Alexander Burnett urged the Scottish Government chiefs to tackle the crisis.
The Conservative member said: “Three months ought to be more than enough time to find replacement staff, but clearly in NHS Grampian that’s not happening.
“It’s always going to be slightly more difficult for the north-east health board to recruit than for those in the central belt, but that doesn’t explain why the problem has got so much worse over the past year.”
An NHS Grampian spokeswoman said work was already well under way to tackle the problem.
She said: “Our nurse recruitment work has concentrated on our already strong links with Robert Gordon University, with all newly qualified nurses offered a post on graduation.
“Last year 176 additional nursing and midwifery staff (full-time equivalent) joined NHS Grampian.”