Responding to the announcement of the government’s 10 Year Capital Plan, RCN Chief Nursing Officer Professor Lynn Woolsey, said:

 

"Our health and care system has been starved of capital investment, making the jobs of nursing staff so much harder. You simply cannot provide safe and effective care in a dilapidated estate. Today’s announcement must do more than paper over the cracks, but worryingly the £6.75bn being set aside for tackling the maintenance backlog is significantly below what the current backlog actually is. Ministers cannot afford to be unambitious in modernising our NHS.

 

"Whilst nursing staff will be encouraged by the announcement on affordable homes and will want to see it succeed, we need guarantees that staff will be involved in the design of accommodation on unused estate. Also, that that land will under no circumstances be sold off to meet Trusts day-to-day running costs and risk not delivering the affordable homes that have been promised. It’s also important that if NHS buildings are transferred to local NHS Trust ownership, appropriate funding for maintenance follows to avoid saddling Trusts with further costs they cannot afford. Helping our profession to live in the very communities they serve is good for nursing and services, helping trusts better recruit and retain staff, but not at the expense of delivering safe services in safe premises. 

 

"Heatwaves in recent weeks have shown the pace at which the world is changing, with many further issues for health infrastructure around the corner. To transform services and address the current backlog it won’t just take funding but strong political commitments to ensure capital money is protected. We cannot have a repeat of the situation where employers feel they have no choice but to use it to support the day-to-day running of services."

 

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