22.08.13
Nurse numbers drop by 5,601
Over 5,000 nursing posts have been lost over the past three years, new statistics show. The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) found that the number of nurses was down by 5,601 to 348,311 in May 2013.
The opposition and the Royal College of Nursing warned of the safety risks of fewer nurses.
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: “Report after report has warned David Cameron of the central importance of nurse numbers in providing safe care. But these cuts... show he is ignoring these warnings and allowing hospitals across England to operate without safe staffing levels.”
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive & general secretary of the RCN said: “The only way safe and compassionate patient care can be delivered is if we have enough nursing staff on the ground, with the right skills and training.
“The ever-increasing pressure nurses are under, with more patients to look after and more complex health conditions to cater for, is untenable and dangerous. This is why the reports of Robert Francis, Sir Bruce Keogh, and recently Professor Don Berwick have all called for NHS trusts to guarantee safe staffing levels.
“Nurses in the UK want to be able to provide first-class care every hour of every day, however they can only do this if we invest properly in them.”
But health minister Norman Lamb said: “Hospitals themselves must decide how many and which staff they employ and must publish evidence to show that numbers are right for the needs of the patients that they look after.”
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