Nurses say they have no time for tea and a chat to reassure patients

NURSES feel they are no longer allowed to chat to patients over a cup of tea, amid struggles to keep wards staffed safely, MPS have warned.

The Health Committee said its inquiry found evidence of a crisis in the nursing workforce, with more than one in 10 positions vacant, amid mounting pressures. Its report called on the chief nursing officer to write to every hospital in the country, instructing them to make sure staff were able to eat and drink during their shifts, and to carry out safe handovers of patients.

During the inquiry, MPS said a number of nurses had reported that they were not even allowed to have a cup of tea on the ward with patients. Others said they did not even have time to have a drink of water when thirsty.

Andrew Selous said nurses “felt that there had been an edict from on high” against sitting down to chat with worried patients over a cup of tea. In today’s report, MPS said that such contact enhanced patient care, stating that they were “reassured” to learn from the chief nurse that was no such prohibition.

The report said the nursing workforce was now “overstretched and struggling to cope with demand” with witnesses describing the shortages as a “crisis”. Watchdogs told the inquiry that healthcare assistants were being asked to carry out tasks for which they were not qualified, and in some cases being called nurses. Nurses said they were left working 60-hour weeks, with too little time to take breaks and, in some cases, to get meals.

The report calls for staff to be given access to food and drink near the wards. Sir Robert Francis, the chairman of the public inquiry into the Mid Staffs scandal, told MPS that many staff were working in “unacceptable and unsafe conditions”.

Nurses said patient care was suffering. The report said pay restraint had fuelled shortages of staff, while Brexit and new language tests appeared to be adding to shortages.