In response to the survey question: “There are enough staff at this organisation for me to do my job properly”- Percentage of registered nurses and midwives saying they “strongly agree or agree”, responses were:
Cheshire
Across Cheshire only 12.6% of nurses believe there are enough staff for them to do their job properly.
• Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS FT – 32.1% (2020) vs 22.4% (2021)
• Countess of Chester Hospital NHS FT – 27.3% (2020) vs 12.6% (2021)
• East Cheshire NHS Trust – 30.7% (2020) vs 19.9% (2021)
• Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS FT – 32.1% (2020) vs 18.9% (2021)
• Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS FT – 32.1% (2020) vs 20.5% (2021)
Greater Manchester
Across Greater Manchester only 13.7% of nurses believe there are enough staff for them to do their job properly with only one trust seeing an increase.
• Bolton NHS FT – 36.2% (2020) vs 25.9% (2021)
• Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS FT – 31.2% (2020) vs 17.7% (2021)
• Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS FT – 31.2% (2020) vs 20.7% (2021)
• Manchester University NHS FT - 34.9% (2020) vs 21.9% (2021)
• * Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust - 29% (2020) vs 17.8% (2021)
• Pennine Care NHS FT – 41.8% (2020) vs 27.4% (2021)
• * Salford Royal NHS FT - 32.2% (2020) vs 15.6% (2021)
• Stockport NHS FT - 19.6% (2020) vs 13.7% (2021)
• Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS FT – 20.9% (2020) vs 13.8% (2021)
• The Christie NHS FT – 49.2% (2020) vs 34.1% (2021)
• Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS FT – 27.9% (2020) vs 28.6% (2021)
Lancashire
Across Lancashire only 1 in 4 nurses believe there are enough staff for them to do their job properly.
• Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS FT – 37.2% (2020) vs 24% (2021)
• East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust – 37.4% (2020) vs 22.4% (2021)
• Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS FT - 35.7% (2020) vs 23.7% (2021)
• Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust -31.8% (2020) vs 26.4% (2021)
• University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS FT – 37.1% (2020) vs 22.1% (2021)
Merseyside
Across Merseyside only 10.9% of nurses believe there are enough staff for them to do their job properly.
• Alder Hey Children's NHS FT – 34.6% (2020) vs 23.7% (2021)
• Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS FT – 47.1% (2020) vs 38.8% (2021)
• Liverpool University Hospitals NHS FT – 34.2% (2020) vs 22.4% (2021)
• Liverpool Women's NHS FT – 32.7% (2020) vs 19.4% (2021)
• Mersey Care NHS FT – 37.4% (2020) vs 22.9% (2021)
• St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust – 48.4% (2020) vs 24.8% (2021)
• Wirral Community Health and Care NHS FT – 21.3% (2020) vs 10.9% (2021)
• Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS FT – 28.8% (2020) vs 21.2% (2021)
Estephanie Dunn, Regional Director of the RCN in the North West said: “When nurses say there are too few staff for them to do their job properly, it’s worrying because it can mean patients don’t receive the care they need, or their safety is compromised.
“There are nearly 5,000 vacancies for NHS nurses across the North West – one in nine posts – and this number has barely changed in the past four years. The results of the survey suggest that in some/many health trusts the staffing crisis is getting worse, not better.
“Hospitals and other care providers have a huge challenge to recruit and retain enough nurses to fill the gaps, but they’ve been frustrated by the Government ducking its responsibility to ensure a sufficient supply of staff.
“The Government must commit to delivering and funding a workforce plan for the long term that guarantees there are enough nursing staff in the health and care system to provide patients with consistently safe and effective care.”
Pay
Meanwhile, the survey results also reveal fewer nursing staff are satisfied with their level of pay than they were a year ago.
Typically, below 35% of registered nurses and midwives at NHS trusts in Cheshire are content with their level of pay, with satisfaction rates in some hospitals and mental health provider trusts lower than 30%. With 40% of the rest of the regions nurses and midwives content with their level of pay, with satisfaction rates in some hospitals and mental health provider trusts lower than 30%.
The RCN says the falling/low satisfaction rates show how undervalued many nursing staff were feeling even before the Government proposed a pay rise of only two to three per cent for NHS workers this summer – below the current inflation rate and, in effect, a pay cut.
Ms Dunn said: “Nursing staff are earning less in real terms than they were ten years ago, the cost of living is soaring, and these results are yet another sign that more and more of them are feeling short-changed by the Government for the skills, knowledge and responsibility they have.
“When nurses are reporting they can get less stressful jobs for similar pay, the sooner the Government appreciates that fair pay is a key factor in addressing the shortages in our profession, the better.”