RCN warns of rising pressure as staff cuts mount
Published: 03 October 2011
The growing strain on nurses working in the NHS was today revealed by the Royal College of Nursing as new figures showed that one in twenty nurses expects to be made redundant during the next 12 months.
A total of five percent of members surveyed said they expect to lose their jobs over the next year, equating to around 15,000 nurses and healthcare assistants in the NHS, while a further seven percent expect to experience downbanding and six percent reduced hours, according to the RCN’s employment survey, which is carried out every two years.
The survey also uncovers the increasing workload that nurses and healthcare assistants are facing. More than half of nurses in the NHS (54 percent) report decreased staffing levels for registered nurses in the last twelve months. Given the strong evidence between safe staffing levels and patient care, the RCN is now calling for guaranteed safe staffing levels and will be tabling an amendment on this issue as the Health and Social Care Bill progresses through the House of Lords.
Furthermore, well over half of nurses (57 percent) work in excess of contacted hours either every shift or several times a week. A total of 16 percent of nurses work in excess of contracted hours every shift (up from 10 percent in 2009) and 41 percent do this several times a week – up from 31 percent in 2009.
Nurses also report major cuts to posts, wards and services with key findings over the last 12 months including:
• 40 percent of nurses reporting recruitment freezes with vacancies unfilled;
• 19 percent seeing posts cut;
• 13 percent witnessing ward or bed closures.
The cuts that are taking place are having an impact on patient care according to nurses, with more than half (52 percent) too busy to provide the level of care they would like and nearly a third (32 percent) are reporting the quality of care decreasing. Cuts to staff posts and services are particularly worrying at a time when the NHS is facing a huge rise in demand from an ageing population, increasing numbers of patients with long-term conditions, and the need for the NHS in England to make £20 billion in efficiency savings by 2014.
Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Nurses are at the heart of all that is good about the NHS and this is yet more evidence that the frontline is not being protected. We know the Government wants to protect services but nurses are wilting under the strain of longer working hours, taking on the burden on unfilled vacancies and reduced staffing levels. All these short term measures are likely to leave patient with longer waiting times, poor care and a worse NHS. It is absolutely critical that trusts make sure they have the right numbers and balance of staff to deal with this.”
Through its Frontline First campaign, the RCN has already identified 40,000 NHS posts that are earmarked to be lost, while an independent report commissioned by the RCN earlier this summer warned that the NHS in England could lose nearly 100,000 nurses over the next ten years, with potentially disastrous consequences for patient care.
Ends
Notes for Editors
1. The survey was conducted by Incomes Data Services for the Royal College of Nursing.
2. The figures are from the RCN’s 23rd Employment Survey and covers the views of almost 8000 nurses, including more than 6,000 working in the NHS.
3. 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/newsevents/media
4. 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