This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
RCN demands honesty over widespread nursing vacancies
The Royal College of Nursing has said that the government must be honest about widespread nursing vacancies and what steps need to be taken to keep patients and staff safe.
NHS services in England have just moved to their highest level of emergency preparedness as the number of people seriously ill with coronavirus being treated in hospital rose to more than 11,000 from 2,000 at the end of September. The RCN has grave concerns about how services will be safely staffed as we move into winter as it's too late to find the nurses to meet the likely demands.
Even though there are more nurses registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) now than last year, there are still around 40,000 registered nurse vacancies in the NHS in England alone. When coronavirus sickness absence is also considered, these gaps in the workforce put enormous responsibility on the nursing staff left working and an intolerable pressure on senior nursing leaders.
The RCN believes that nursing staff at all levels should be supported to raise concerns about staffing levels and patient safety, and for those concerns to be acted upon properly. The college says that the government must pledge that decisions and planning about what the NHS can provide this winter are based on how many nursing staff are actually available and what those nursing staff can safely maintain.
Mike Adams, RCN England Director, said: “We already know that frontline nurses, in hospitals, communities and care homes, are under huge strain, and anecdotally we’re hearing that in some hospitals they are becoming increasingly thinly spread, as staff become unwell or have to isolate at the same time as demand on services continues to increase.
“The government says nurses have been given extra training to provide more critical care staff to treat Covid-19 patients, but there simply aren’t enough to go around. It is essential that learning is applied to planning for this winter, including what service can be delivered safely with the workforce available.”
Latest News
16/02/2024 - 12:56
Hammersmith and Fulham Council has created a new alliance intended to clean dirty air and improve residents' health.
16/02/2024 - 10:44
Two million more GP appointments a month are being delivered for patients compared to the same month before the pandemic as part of the NHS primary care access recovery plan according to new NHS data.
15/02/2024 - 10:26
The Welsh Government has provided innovation funding of £380,000 to support two projects utilising technology in domiciliary care.
15/02/2024 - 10:13
The new Scottish health secretary has met with frontline staff at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
14/02/2024 - 10:27
The North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) has appointed three new Executive Directors to the Trust Board.
Product Features
UK Building Regulations highlight toxic gas and smoke from layers of paint built up over multiple redecorations as a major cause of permanent ill health or death in a building fire.
Their concern rose with discovery the flame retardant paints most widely used paint along escape routes have been ones which to this day counter-productively use emission of heavy toxic gas to smother flames which rapidly spread along walls if layers of paint delaminate in a fire.
Supplier Profiles
Northwich’s Victoria Infirmary (VIN) Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) has enabled more patients
Adveco, the commercial hot water specialist, announces the launch of live metering of domestic ho
Latest Features
Sarah Greenslade, public affairs and communications officer at the British Parking Association looks at some of the problems and innovations in healthcare parking
It’s easy to assume that the comms team is there to handle press enquiries and the occasional social media storm – but the reality is that strategic communications can make a measurable impact across the entire organisation, from operational to financial, when done properly
