A damning Royal College of Nursing survey shows that almost a quarter of nurses say staffing numbers are so poor there is now a “high risk” of harm on shift.
Almost a quarter of nurses working in the NHS say staffing numbers are so poor that there is now a “high risk” of harm on shift.
Understaffing and an ageing population, combined with more long-term conditions, are leaving nurses exhausted and struggling to keep people safe, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) says.
Some 13,000 staff completed the survey, with almost two-thirds believing staffing levels are “below” or “well below” what is needed and 22% reporting there is a risk of harm due to understaffing.
Nicola Ranger, RCN general secretary and chief executive, is this week calling for sustained investment to grow the workforce, as the RCN’s annual congress takes place in Liverpool.
In England, registered nurse growth has fallen to an eight-year low and has fallen behind that of doctors in the UK.
“Widespread vacancies of registered nurses are always unsafe, but the risk is being compounded by the demands of delivering ever more complex care to an ageing, sicker population, with multiple conditions. It is a deadly mix,” said Ranger.
Around eight in ten responding to the Last Shift Survey said that clinical complexity, such as an ageing population and more people living with long-term conditions, has increased in the two years since the previous questionnaire, which asked people what staffing levels were like on their last shift and its impact.
“It is a government’s first priority to keep its citizens safe, but our analysis and the testimony of nursing staff show ministers are too often failing in this most basic task. We need a new approach, away from the flawed finger-in-the-wind workforce planning, which led us here,” she added.
