RCN comments on staffing levels survey

Published: 25 April 2012

For immediate release:  Tuesday 24 April 2012
RCN comments on staffing levels survey

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) today commented on a survey published by UNISON showing that staff are being forced to work extra hours unpaid.

Royal College of Nursing Chief Executive & General Secretary, Dr Peter Carter, said:

“Through our own member employment surveys the RCN has repeatedly highlighted the pressure nurses are under from short staffing and the danger this poses to the public. In our recent surveys, staff also told us that nurse to patient ratios were falling to just 1 nurse to 9 patients in acute care settings and 1 nurse to 10 patients in older people’s care settings. It is clear that there is an urgent need for mandated safe staffing levels setting out how many patients a registered nurse should care for. Equally, we believe that there should be a guaranteed ratio of registered to non-registered nursing staff on duty.

“It was these concerns that prompted RCN congress to vote overwhelmingly for mandatory nurse staffing levels in April 2011 and led to RCN support for an amendment to the Health and Social Care Act 2012 calling for their development as a crucial safeguard against poor care. There is clear evidence that patient safety decreases where there are insufficient numbers of nurses.  This is a particular concern at the moment when we know that many Trusts are making staffing cuts to save money.”

Ends

Notes for Editors

1. The RCN has issued guidance on the skill mix of nursing teams recommending a 65:35% mix of registered nurses to health care support workers, guidance on the number of nurse per patients on elder care wards and guidance for boards and employers on information they should monitor when planning safe staffing levels.

2. In the RCN’s 2011 members’ survey, 54 percent of nurses and healthcare assistants in the NHS reported decreased staffing levels for registered nurses in the last twelve months. http://www.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/407242/004184.pdf

3. The 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