NHS heading for crisis point, warns RCN

The RCN claimed that, in England alone, 48,029 NHS posts are set to be cut or have been lost since the RCN began tracking post losses in April 2010. In the worst cases, some Trusts are cutting up to a quarter of their workforce and are shedding hundreds of posts each. An RCN analysis of 41 Trusts in England revealed that clinical posts make up almost half (49%) of the total workforce cuts with nursing posts (registered nurses and healthcare assistants) accounting for more than a third (34%) of the posts earmarked to be cut. On average, across the 41 Trusts, 8.3% of qualified nursing jobs will be lost. In a statement, the RCN said that the findings were “further evidence that Trusts in England are making short-term cuts in order to meet the £20 billion ‘efficiency savings’ target set by the NHS.” Royal College of Nursing chief executive and general secretary, Dr Peter Carter, said: “These figures reveal the deeply worrying acceleration in NHS post losses in recent months. It is only eighteen months ago that we were concerned about losing around 5,000 NHS jobs. Now it is more than ten times that figure. Cutting staff numbers by up to a quarter and axing a third of nursing posts will undoubtedly have a deep and potentially dangerous impact on patient care. “There is clear evidence that the quality of care and patient safety is improved when you have the right numbers and skills in place on wards. Staffing levels should be based on rigorous clinical evidence and should not be arbitrarily lowered in a short-sighted effort to save money. We are currently working with Peers to table amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill to ensure mandatory safe staffing levels.