14.05.12
Nurses struggling to cope with demand – RCN
Over 60,000 posts in the NHS have been lost or placed at risk since April 2010, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has claimed. A report by the union suggests that workloads are rising and nurses have less time to care for their patients.
A survey found that 68% said staffing levels had fallen where they worked and 86% said patients were being discharged from hospital more quickly. 89% reported that their caseload had increased and 59% said they were spending less time with patients over the last year.
The RCN document reads: “These results raise major concerns about the capacity of community services to deal with an increasing number of acutely ill patients.
“Despite the stated intentions of politicians across theUKand all the advice from health experts, the RCN found very little clear evidence of this shift actually happening on the ground.
“The acute sector may be getting smaller but the community sector is not expanding to ‘take up the slack’ and is vulnerable to short-term cuts.”
Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary said: “If hospital beds and wards are closing, it is essential that community services are protected. The Government’s failure to ensure that suggests there is no clear plan for the efficiency challenge and haphazard cuts are being made across the system.”
However health minister Simon Burns did not recognise the job loss figures, and stated that there were only 450 fewer qualified nurse working in the NHS now than in September 2009.
He added: “The health and social care act will make shifting care out of hospitals and closer to people’s homes simpler. No one should stay in hospital longer than they need to and we are already investing £300m to help people return to their homes with the support that they need more quickly after a spell in hospital.”
Tell us what you think – have your say below, or email us directly at [email protected]