Stressed nurses taking a million days off a year
NURSES are taking the equivalent of a million days off every year due to stress, new figures show.
The numbers for England follow data revealing more nurses – one in 10 - are leaving the NHS blaming long hours and poor pay with at least 40,000 unfilled nursing posts in England alone.
NHS digital statistics indicate that 1,074,230 days were lost in England last year because nurses took time off for “stress, anxiety or depression”, accounting for nearly a quarter of all absences.
Separate NHS data also shows 160,000 nurses have left the profession over the past five years, including 33,530 who quit in the year up to September 2017.
The rise is 17 per cent on the 28,547 in 2012/13 after year-on-year increases for the last four years. In total 159,134 nurses have quit the NHS in the last five years.
Nursing leaders say the loss of staff is piling pressure on overstretched hospitals and community services.
Peter Carter, former chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing said: “There are now over 40,000 vacancies at a time when the workload has increased. You don’t have to be a genius to work out if the workforce is going down and the workload is going up in an already pressurised job you will have stress and absences linked to stress.”
There are 600,000 nurses on the register with 200,000 over 50 and likely to retire in the next 10 years.
Mr Carter added: “The Government must act urgently to reverse this dangerous and downward spiral by encouraging more nurses to train and to stay in the by offering better pay and conditions.”
The figures come as health experts warn of a surge in alcohol-related hospital admissions during the festive season.
“Nurses will be overwhelmed at this time of year with a surge in patients attending because of problems linked to drink and drugs.
“They will be going into work with a sense of anxiety about what will await them. Many get spat at, assaulted,” said Mr Carter.
Mike Travis, 65, a Liverpool-based children’s nurse for 40 years said: “I’ve never seen the NHS like this before. It is the worst it has ever been.
“There are days when I’ve felt I can’t do the job any more. Nurses are tired and exhausted, dealing with an increase in patients with dementia.
“We currently have the highest workload and lowest workforce than we have ever seen. Patients are discharged earlier than ever due to lack of beds.
“We are also dealing with the very sickest patients. We are constantly teetering on the edge,.”
A health department spokesman said: “The NHS runs on the dedication of our wonderful nurses.
“We are increasing the starting salary of a nurse by £2,000.
“There are 11,400 more nurses on our wards since 2010, 52,000 currently in NHS training and we have made more funding available to increase university training places.” kicked and