PATIENTS and workers at Glasgow hospitals are being put in danger by a lack of staff, a major union claimed today.

PATIENTS and workers at Glasgow hospitals are being put in danger by a lack of staff, a major union claimed today.

Nurses and midwives at some of the city's leading healthcare units say they are struggling to cope with a shortage of 500 qualified workers.

And today the public service union Unison warned the health of patients and staff, as well as the professional qualifications of workers, were at risk as nurses were forced to cut corners.

Ward staff have issued an alert after finding they did not have enough people with the right experience to offer the level of support expected.

Matt McLaughlin, the union's regional organiser, said: "Staff should not be put under this kind of stress as they work to provide care.

"It is clear we do not have enough nurses and midwives on the wards. We need 500 more staff to provide the level of care people are entitled to."

Staff in the Princess Royal maternity hospital at Glasgow Royal Infirmary say babies are routinely being looked after by nurses who are trained to care for adults.

There are fears nurses looking after elderly people do not have the manpower to care safely for patients with complex problems.

And a pioneering coronary care unit at Stobhill is so short-staffed nurses have been told they can't have a summer holiday.

Managers say they can't spare any staff for a fortnight and can't get anyone in to cover.

Yet union reps believe the health board's acute division, which runs hospitals, is sitting on an unspent £3.5million that could fund extra staff.

Nurse Cathy Miller, who leads the union's Glasgow health branch, raised the alarm in a letter to Tom Divers, chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

She feared the board was failing in its duty of care to patients and staff alike by refusing to recruit enough nurses to adapt to the changing workload.

Mr McLaughlin said all 7000 members working with the health board were now being asked to complete a survey giving details of problems across the city as well as in Paisley, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire.

He said: "We have anecdotal evidence of severe problems at a number of locations and are asking staff to tell us about conditions.

"We need to know if this is a general trend because the signs are there are similar problems across the board.

"We need safe staffing levels in all our hospitals."

A health board spokeswoman said: "A letter from a senior Unison steward has been received.

"We are disappointed we have not been allowed to respond to this in accordance with our normal partnership working arrangements.

"However, the financial information in the letter is broadly correct.

"The allegations on staffing levels affecting patient care are being looked at and we will respond to the letter as soon possible."