24
Nov 2020
Coronavirus – nursing union warns of ‘grave concerns’ of staffing in the NHS this winter
The Royal College of Nursing, said any plans to cope with the second wave of Covid-19 created by the government and NHS needs to be based on reality and specifically the number of nurses “actually available”.
The union issued its warning as England went into a second national lockdown in a further attempt to suppress the spread of the virus.
In a statement, the RCN said the government needed to be honest about the widespread nursing staff shortages and warned it had “grave concerns how services will be safely staffed.”
It added “It’s too late to find the nurses to meet the likely demands of this winter. The college is worried that even though there are more nurses than last year registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, there are still around 40,000 registered nursing vacancies in the NHS in England alone.”
It went on to warn that the effect was being felt not just in hospitals, but also in specialist areas like cancer care, and in community services looking after patients at home.
They added that a major concern was the risk that those staff who remained at work may “burn out” this winter.
“Nursing staff at all levels must be supported to raise concerns about staffing levels and patient safety, and for those concerns to be acted upon properly.”
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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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