‘Reckless’ proposals impact on patient care – RCN

Published: 03 September 2009

Embargoed until: 00:01, Thursday 3 September 2009

'Reckless' proposals impact on patient care - RCN

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) today (3 September) said that reducing the number of nurses in the NHS would have a detrimental impact on quality and safety of patient care. RCN Chief Executive Dr Peter Carter was responding to reports that the Department of Health is taking advice from McKinsey on reducing clinical staff numbers to help the NHS save money. Dr Carter said:

"These proposals are deeply worrying because recent studies show that there is a direct link between the number of nurses working on wards and patient deaths. When there are not enough nurses on the ward, patients are more likely to die or experience complications. It is reckless to think about reducing staff levels without considering in detail the impact on patient care.

"The suggestion that community nurses should be encouraged to retire demonstrates a very poor understanding of what is happening in the health service. With 200,000 nurses due to retire in the next ten years, this represents a very serious shortfall which needs to be addressed urgently. Reducing the number of nurses leaves those who are working more stressed and unable to provide the standard of care which they would like.

"It is disingenuous to say on the one hand you want to improve safety and quality of patient care, and on the other take advice on reducing numbers of clinical staff."

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Notes for Editors

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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.