The Royal College of Nursing is calling on the new Government and NHS organisations for a “cast iron” commitment to ensure safe staffing levels, in the face of fears that nursing posts and expertise may be sacrificed under cost cutting measures.
The resolution was tabled as an emergency by West Midlands nurses, at the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) recent annual Congress in Bournemouth, who were concerned over the impact of staff shortages on the safety and quality of patient care. Staffing deficits were cited by healthcare regulator the Care Quality Commission as among the reasons why two West Midlands hospital Trusts – Mid-Staffordshire and Heart of England – had conditions attached to their licences. Tracey Budding, chair of the RCN’s West Midlands board and a neonatal intensive care sister from Birmingham, said: “It’s clear that despite the boom in investment in the NHS over the past decade, staff shortages are a reality for many nurses and healthcare assistants and they are struggling to cope with their workloads and sustain high quality care for patients. “If these problems have existed and persisted during a period of relative wealth for the NHS, surely there is a serious risk things will get worse as the financial climate gets even tougher.” Delegates at the Congress voted overwhelmingly in favour of the guarantee.
