Crisis level staffing in NHS is becoming the norm

A new survey has found that almost half of NHS workers on the front line of patient care say there are not enough staff on their shift to ensure patients are treated safely and with compassion.

The UNISON study emphasises the effect of chronic understaffing in the health service, with unfilled posts and uncertainty about the future status of many workers having an impact on patients. The public service union is warning the government it must pump significant funds into the NHS to fix the problems caused by years of austerity.

The survey showed that 45 per cent of the respondents who were directly involved with patient care said there were not enough staff on their shift to deliver a safe, dignified and compassionate service, with some departments more severely affected than others. Hardest hit were those in acute inpatients where 59 per cent said staffing was insufficient. It was also a serious issue for those in mental health (45 per cent), primary care (41 per cent) and community health (36 per cent).

Moreover, nearly half of respondents said their service relied on bank staff on the day of the survey, mainly to fill nursing roles but also healthcare assistant posts, administration and a variety of other positions.

Other findings of the report include: 38 per cent of respondents worked longer than their scheduled hours, in many cases unpaid; 16 per cent were subjected to violence, aggression and/or verbal abuse during their shift; while 26 per cent reported extremely high stress levels.

Sara Gorton, UNISON head of health, said: “This survey shows the extent to which crisis level staffing has become normal across the whole NHS. These are long-term, systemic factors not being properly addressed. The government must give the system the funding needed to tackle these issues. But hearteningly it also shows the dedication and compassion these hard-working committed staff continue to show at the most trying times.”

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary, said: “These are shocking findings revealing the extent to which chronic staff shortages are hindering the delivery of safe, quality health care. The truth is our NHS is suffering from 9 years of Tory squeeze, mismanagement and cuts leaving the service short of 100,000 staff today .

“It’s not good enough for ministers to just shrug their shoulders when patients are at risk. The recent NHS plan offered no clear strategy to deliver the staff our health and care sectors desperately need. Only Labour will deliver a credible long term plan with safe staffing at its heart.”