NHS boards fail to sign up for Edinburgh healthcare jobs fair

A MAJOR jobs fair for health workers in Edinburgh has been snubbed by every one of the country's 14 regional NHS boards, according to the Scottish Conservatives.

Only one out of 21 NHS boards across Scotland have signed up to attend the jobs fair in Edinburgh in March

The summit will take place on 3 March in the Assembly Rooms on George Street.

The event has been billed as Scotland’s largest healthcare job fair. However, just one of the country’s 21 publicly funded NHS Boards has signed up to participate.

Organisers have written to health secretary Shona Robison asking her to explain the widespread rejection. The letter states the lack of involvement “sends a clear message that Scotland is not interested in either recruiting or retaining healthcare professionals”.

“This year, as with the two previous years, healthcare professionals ... working in Scotland’s strained health system, will again ask us why there are no regional health boards in attendance.”

Scottish Tories shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said: “It’s incredible, especially given the staffing crisis in Scotland’s NHS, that the SNP government isn’t taking this event seriously.”