Action needed to combat unsafe staffing levels, warns RCN

Published: 22 April 2013

Nine out of ten nurses in Scotland (90%) believe that staffing levels are not always adequate to provide safe patient care, according to a new survey carried out by ICM on behalf of the Royal College of Nursing. And over a quarter (27%) of nurses in Scotland think that staffing levels are rarely or never safe.
 
Commenting on these latest findings, RCN Scotland Director Theresa Fyffe said: “Without a doubt, understaffing is one of the biggest challenges facing our health service today. It’s a matter of patient safety – if there are not enough nurses on our wards or working out in the community, patient care will be affected.”

The survey also reveals that the vast majority (91%) of nurses in Scotland support the introduction of mandatory staffing levels to protect patient safety. Theresa continued: “In Scotland, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, Alex Neil MSP, recently announced that all health boards have to use the nationally-agreed workforce and workload planning tools to calculate the number of staff needed to deliver care safely. The figures from our survey show just how far away we are from having enough nurses on our wards and out in the community. Some health boards have now realised they have cut staff to the bone and are starting to recruit, but what we need now is for all health boards to use the workforce tools in all settings and so make sure our nurses can provide safe patient care at all times. Evidence shows that having the right number of professionally qualified nurses looking after patients reduces patient mortality, so there’s no excuse for understaffing.  Patients deserve safe and effective care at all times.”

ENDS

For further information or to arrange an interview, please call 0131 662 6173 or the out-of-hours press officer on 07962 801005.

Notes to editors

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the world’s largest professional organisation and trade union for nursing staff, with members in the NHS, independent and voluntary sectors. RCN Scotland promotes patient and nursing interests by campaigning on issues that affect our members, shaping national health policies, representing members on practice and employment issues and providing members with learning and development opportunities.  With around 39,000 members in Scotland, we are the voice of nursing.

Survey of 8,262 RCN members was carried out by ICM on behalf of the Royal College of Nursing between 20 March and 2 April 2013. A total of 792 RCN members in Scotland responded.