Public fear nurse shortages will hurt patients
Published: 24 August 2007
The public are overwhelmingly concerned that nursing shortages will have a negative effect on patients, according to a YouGov poll, commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
The survey of 4475 people from across England found that 84 percent were concerned that understaffing of nurses will have a detrimental impact on patient safety. Nearly all (93 percent) agreed the NHS should have a duty to guarantee safe and appropriate staffing levels and 77 percent agreed that if more nurses were employed the standard of healthcare would improve.
The findings come amid a spate of deficit-led cuts of NHS posts up and down the country through a combination of redundancies and posts being frozen and deleted. The survey also found that 72 percent of the public believe that nurses do not have the time and resources to do their jobs properly.
Dr Peter Carter, General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said: “These findings show just how much the public value nurses and the work they do. Having led the way in modernising the health service, bringing down waiting times and improving patient care, it is vital we do not sacrifice nursing posts at the altar of deficits. Otherwise, we risk reversing the progress we have made so far and denying patients the high quality care they deserve.
“It is now time the government shows just how much it values nurses by giving them a fair and decent pay award that reflects their skill and dedication, and not the pay cut by instalments it is currently proposing.
“With nearly two-thirds of nurses saying they would be prepared to take some form of industrial action and almost a third saying they would considering quitting the NHS if they were unhappy with their pay award, the government would be ill advised to trample on the goodwill of hardworking nurses by ignoring the recommendations of the independent Pay Review Body. “
Two weeks ago the government indicated that it would seek to ignore the recommendation of the Pay Review Body that sets nurses’ pay and impose a below inflation pay award of 2.5% on nurses to be paid in two instalments, equating to a pay award of just 1.9%. The RCN is calling for the government to abide by the Review Body’s recommendations and give nurses their pay award in full from April.
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Notes to Editors
For further information, interviews or illustrations please contact the RCN Media Office on 0207 647 3633, press.office@rcn.org.uk or visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/news/mediacentre.php
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.
1. YouGov surveyed 4475 adults in England between 15th- 19th February.
2. In an ICM survey of 1006 RCN members between 2nd-8th February 2007 found that
· 62% said they would be willing to take some form of industrial action such as refusing to work unpaid overtime, take on extra work or go on strike, provided patients did not suffer in the process if they received an unsatisfactory pay award.
· 29% say an unsatisfactory pay award would make them consider quitting the NHS altogether
3. On 1 March the government announced a phased pay award of 1.5% paid from 1 April and 1% paid from November, equalling a 1.9% annual rise. This is against the Pay Review Body’s recommendation to give the full award from April. The Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation was 4.2% in January 2007. With the average wage of a registered nurse being £24,841, this equates to a pay cut in real terms of £570 a year.