Specialist nurses still under threat despite NHS surplus

Published: 29 April 2008

Embargoed: 00:01 Wednesday 30th April, 2008

Vacancy freezes and fears of redundancy and downgrading are continuing to plague the NHS as it heads for a £1.8bn surplus, a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) survey of specialist and experienced nurses has found.

The survey of almost 330 of the UK’s specialist and experienced nurses found a third said their organisation had a vacancy freeze in place and one in four have been at risk of redundancy in their current role, with 20 percent still at risk.

RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary Dr Peter Carter said: “It beggars belief that despite the NHS being on track to register a £1.8 billion surplus, specialist nurses are continuing to be targeted in a bid to cut costs. 

Specialist nurses are our gold plated resources who make a huge difference to the lives of their patients. The loss of just one of these highly trained experts will have a disproportionate impact on patients.

These are the very nurses who will be at the centre of the government’s plans to deliver care closer to home and yet these same nurses are being treated as soft targets. We should be looking at ways to recruit more specialist nurses and keep those already working in the profession. Targeting them for redundancy and under utilising their skills is sure to send them in the opposite direction.”

The RCN led the way in monitoring the deficits crisis in the NHS, publishing a damning report last year which showed the vast majority of specialist nurses said NHS cuts were having an ‘adverse’ effect on patient care and almost half were aware of cuts being made to services in their specialist area.

In Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS one of the reasons for change was ‘the need for more specialised care’ yet today’s survey shows 27 percent of experienced and specialist nurses say cuts are being made right now.

 The survey also showed:

  • Almost half (45 percent) have worked outside their specialist area to cover staff shortages
  • 68 percent say the number of patients/clients seen on a daily basis has increased since they started work in their current role
  • Nearly half (47 percent) have been at risk of re-banding/downgrading (17 percent are currently at risk; 18  percent have been at risk; nearly 12 percent have had their post downgraded/re-banded)
  • Only 51 percent of the nurses felt their work was valued by their organisation.

One nurse said that in being removed from her normal work place to cover in another area she lost her skills that she had acquired, she lost relationships built over four years and had “no job satisfaction in current work”.

 -Ends-

 Notes to 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.

 The following organisations have commented on the importance of specialist nurses:

The Parkinson’s Disease Society Head of Influence and Service Development, Lesley Carter said: “Access to a Parkinson’s Disease Nurse Specialist is the number one campaign priority for people with Parkinson’s. These nurses not only ensure patients are able to manage their symptoms effectively, they also offer the local health organisations opportunities to innovate how care is delivered.”

 Jon Barrick, Chief Executive for The Stroke Association said: “Stroke patients are more likely to survive (by around 25 per cent), make a better recovery and spend less time in hospital (by 6 days) if they are admitted to a stroke unit. The role of the specialist stroke nurse is vital within this team to ensure patients receive the specialist care needed to make the best recovery possible.”

 Diabetes UK said diabetes specialist nurses play a fundamental role in delivering diabetes care. “Supported self management is the cornerstone of diabetes care and diabetes specialist nurses are a lynch pin in supporting people with diabetes to self manage their condition through the provision of education and information,” a Diabetes UK spokesperson said.

The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society said rheumatology nurse specialists are ‘the cornerstone of the multidisciplinary team’. “One of the vital roles performed by a nurse specialist is being able to talk through all the emotional issues and fears a patient may have following diagnosis.”