Union: Staff shortage risking patients every day
Nursing unions have warned patient safety is being compromised on a daily basis because of worsening staff shortages crippling wards.
Wards, including those with seriously ill elderly people, have been left with one nurse covering 30 patients.
The Royal College of Nursing Scotland (RCN) warns of the risk to patient safety where nurses are on demanding 12-hour shifts with no breaks for food or water.
Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland interim director, said: “Every day our members are seeing patient care compromised because there simply are not enough nursing staff to go round. Patient safety is at risk and staff are suffering.
“They are having to cope with the burden of knowing they haven’t been able to do their best while worrying about how they can heat their homes, feed their families and find the money to travel to work. There remain over 6,000 unfilled jobs across NHS Scotland, spending on agency staff continues to rocket and almost six in 10 nursing staff are planning or thinking about leaving their current job.
“In the coming weeks we will be balloting our members on industrial action. Our members are clear that something has to change for their concerns over patient safety and staff wellbeing to be heard.”
The RCN has delayed its strike ballot during the period of mourning for the Queen. It is asking for an above-inflation rise under the Agenda For Change being demanded by all health worker unions.
The warnings over patient safety come as research by the Nuffield Trust, an the independent think tank, shows the number of nurses leaving the NHS is rising faster in Scotland than England.
Last month, we reported how 1,485 Scottish nurses left the profession in the six months to March, a rate of 2.1% of the workforce, compared with 1.7% in England.
Nigel Edwards, Nuffield Trust CEO, said: “Scotland has done a bit more long-term planning for recruiting nurses than England, but there hasn’t been enough focus on retention.”
In July, RCN members working at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital wrote to the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde board, warning of grave concerns over staffing levels.
The professional body for midwives said it too was aware of people leaving their jobs because of concerns over staffing. Andrea Sutcliffe, chief executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, said: “We are acutely aware of workforce pressures impacting our professions – indeed some of the professionals who left our register last year told us about their struggles with increased workloads and a lack of staff.”
Age Scotland chief executive Brian Sloan said: “Our older people’s wards must have enough highly skilled nursing teams and flexible staffing arrangements to deliver the vital care they deserve.”