23
Jun 2015
Seven-day plan at risk due to nursing cuts
Union leaders have warned that plans to increase seven-day services throughout the NHS in England are at risk due to a fall in the number of senior nursing posts.
According to official sources, the number of nurses employed in the two most senior grades, such as ward sisters and team leaders, has fallen by 3% in the last five years.
Although the government has vowed to bring in 5,000 new GPs and a further 5,000 support staff in anticipation of GP surgery weekend openings, not much has been forthcoming about how this will work in other areas, such as cancer care and routine hospital operations.
Although the overall nursing workforce has grown in the last five years, the number of nurses filling senior band seven and eight roles fell by 2,295 to just over 64,000.
Speaking prior to the Royal College of Nursing’s annual conference which will take place on Monday, Peter Carter, general secretary of the RCN, has said “Nursing staff, and above all, senior expert nurses, are a huge part of the solution to delivering seven-day care.
“Many nurses working as ward sisters or clinical experts are able to make decisions, supervise teams and educate and mentor their junior colleagues.”
The BMA’s annual conference is also due to take place shortly and in his opening speech to the conference, Dr Mark Parter, BMA leader, will say that the seven-day proposals need further clarity.
He will say, “We all want our patients to have the care they need when they need it. So show us the detail of what you mean. Show us how the country will pay for it.
“Show us something real, because all we’ve seen so far is the pursuit of easy headlines.”
A spokeswoman from the Department of Health has said “Ensuring we have the right number of nurses is vital. That’s why we’re taking the issue of nursing recruitment seriously and have prioritised and invested in frontline staff, so there are over 8,000 more nurses on our wards.”
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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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