\n<\/p>\n
Almost two-thirds of nurses believe there are too few of them working in the NHS to keep patients safe and give them proper care, a survey has revealed.<\/p>\n
Understaffing and the increasingly complex medical needs posed by an ageing population are creating a \u201cdeadly mix\u201d for patients, the Royal College of Nursing warned on Monday.<\/p>\n
More than one in five (22%) of nurses working in hospitals or community settings across the UK told the RCN that the number of nurses on duty in their last shift was \u201cwell below what was needed\u201d, which left care \u201csignificantly compromised\u201d and a \u201chigh level of risk of harm to patents and staff\u201d.<\/p>\n
Of the more than 13,000 nurses who took part in the survey 64% said they thought that the number of registered nurses on that shift was \u201cbelow\u201d or \u201cwell below\u201d what was needed to ensure safe care.<\/p>\n
One nurse working in an A&E in England told the union: \u201cThe shift was completely unsafe and it felt like a miracle that avoidable harm was not caused.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prof Nicola Ranger, the RCN\u2019s chief executive and general secretary, will urge ministers to bring in mandatory minimum safe nurse staffing levels when she opens its annual congress on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWidespread vacancies of registered nurses are always unsafe,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the risk is being compounded by the demands of delivering ever more complex care to an ageing, sicker population, with multiple conditions. It\u2019s a deadly mix.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking in Liverpool, she will accuse ministers of failing to ensure that the health service has enough nurses and the nursing profession is being \u201cset up to fail\u201d.<\/p>\n
Frail, elderly patients are at particular risk from the lack of nurses, the RCN warned. A nurse working on an older people\u2019s ward in England said: \u201cManaging high-risk fall patients who require one-to-one supervision is simply not achievable with current staffing levels.\u201d<\/p>\n
The growth in the nursing workforce slowed last year to its lowest level in eight years, figures released by the RCN show. Over the past decade the rate of increase in the number of doctors employed by the NHS in England has outstripped that of the nursing workforce by 51%, it added.<\/p>\n
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: \u201cNurses are the backbone of our NHS, and support patients both physically and emotionally in their most vulnerable moments. It is vital that they are equipped with the tools and resources they need to deliver world class care to those who need it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have recruited 16,000 more nurses and health visitors since we were elected in July 2024, and our upcoming 10-year workforce plan will set out a clear roadmap to improve working lives in the NHS, including better treatment of staff, higher-quality training, and more fulfilling roles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, NHS bosses in England have warned that hospitals will have to make \u201cdeep cuts\u201d to services this year because they do not have enough money.<\/p>\n
A survey of the leaders of health trusts by the membership body NHS Alliance found that:<\/p>\n
64% expected to cut services this year.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
83% feared financial constraints will impact planned patient care and 78% worry it will affect emergency care.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
57% expected to cut their clinical staffing this year to save money.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Ciaran Devane, the organisation\u2019s chief executive, said that \u201cin many ways the NHS is starting to turn a corner\u201d, with shorter waiting times and higher public satisfaction. But progress is at risk, with \u201clikely service closures and job cuts this year\u201d, because the service needs more money to do its job properly.<\/p>\n
A DHSC spokesperson said: \u201cWe recognise the challenges NHS leaders face, but this government has supported the health service with record investment, boosted productivity, and driven improvements in tech.<\/p>\n
\u201cWaiting lists are at their lowest level in more than three years, and over half a million fewer people are waiting for treatment since July 2024. We\u2019ve also expanded community diagnostics, surgical hubs and GP appointments to get patients seen faster.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Almost two-thirds of nurses believe there are too few of them working in the NHS to keep patients safe and give them proper care, a survey has revealed. Understaffing and the increasingly complex medical needs posed by an ageing population are creating a \u201cdeadly mix\u201d for patients, the Royal College of Nursing warned on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[189,7645,1229,6352,2760,1476,4224,736,2161,568,2849],"class_list":{"0":"post-49515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-finds","9":"tag-lack","10":"tag-nhs","11":"tag-nurses","12":"tag-nursing","13":"tag-patients","14":"tag-putting","15":"tag-risk","16":"tag-staff","17":"tag-survey","18":"tag-twothirds"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}