Nurses Urge Legislation to Enforce Staffing Levels
The survey by ‘The Last Shift’ revealed that only a third of shifts had adequate staffing levels, with patients being left to die alone. In response, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is demanding a minimum staffing level in the NHS to be made a legal requirement by the next government to ensure patient safety.
According to a survey of 11,000 nurses, a third of hospital shifts lacked the necessary number of registered nurses, with some missing up to a quarter of staff. In the community, nearly 4 in 10 shifts were short of half the required number of nurses.
The RCN highlighted the strain on nurses who have to handle numerous patients at once and called for safety limits on the maximum number of patients a nurse can be responsible for.
Nurses reported feeling demoralized and compromising patient safety, with many having to care for more than 51 patients per shift. One nurse stated, “We have days when we have 60 visits unallocated because we don’t have enough staff.”
Patients have been left to die alone due to inadequate staffing levels, with concerns raised about patient care, hospital admissions, and mortality rates.
RCN Acting General Secretary, Professor Nicola Ranger, warned that the current situation is dangerous for patients and demoralizing for nursing staff. Urgent investment in the nursing workforce and enshrining safety-critical nurse-patient ratios into law are crucial, according to Ranger.
The RCN manifesto includes demands for substantial pay rises, an end to restrictions on the right to strike, mental health support for nursing staff, an end to “corridor care,” whistleblower protection, increased training for nurses, and improved funding and conditions for health and social care workers.
