Britain’s total nursing staff plummeted alarmingly from 280,765 in June to 278,924 in August
Hospitals may have to turn patients away this Christmas after more than 1,800 nurses quit the NHS in two months, reports Vincent Moss of the Sunday People.
Britain’s total nursing staff plummeted alarmingly from 280,765 in June to 278,924 in August, according to the latest official figures.
This prompted fears of a winter staff crisis that will force stretched hospitals to close their doors to patients.
Embattled Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt faced more damaging news after the Government’s Health and Social Information Centre revealed an exodus of NHS matrons.
Since David Cameron became PM in May 2010 the number has slumped by more than 1,200 from 6,399 to 5,154. Overall the number of senior nurses in the NHS has fallen by 3,373 from 66,832 in 2010 to 63,458 this year.
Senior nurses play a vital role in patient safety.
An inquiry into the deaths scandal at Stafford Hospital said the role of ward managers – sisters and charge nurses – is “absolutely critical”.
Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham says staff shortages could put lives at risk.
He warned: “Nurse losses on this scale risk threatening standards of patient care. Half of nurses say their ward is dangerously understaffed as hospitals shed experienced nurses in a crude attempt to save money.
“David Cameron must make sure hospitals have adequate senior nurses to cope this winter.”
The Royal College of Nursing says senior staff are leaving because penny-pinching managers are forcing them on to lower pay grades.
Labour has vowed to raise £2.5billion for an NHS Time to Care Fund and boost nurse numbers by 20,000 by 2020.
Last week Chancellor George Osborne pledged £2billion more for the NHS. But Labour says £750million of this total was already going to the health budget.
