Royal College of Nursing: 'Unforgivable' nursing shortages mean Britain cannot give safe and effective patient care

Regional director Glenn Turp said nurses were in a more difficult position now than the start of the pandemic because they were coping with extra staff shortages through sickness and exhaustion.

The professional body estimates that Britain went into the pandemic with a shortage of 40,000 nurses, a figure that is likely to be higher now, although the Government will not release its figures.

Mr Turp said: "We are fooling ourselves if we are saying we're giving safe and effective patient care. We couldn't even do that before the pandemic because of the large number of job vacancies.

"Lots of people are off sick with physical and mental health problems like post traumatic stress disorder. There has been a massive failure of government over the last decade and it is an unforgivable position we're in.

“We do know that nurses are absolutely exhausted and are not sure how long they can carry on for.

“We’re in a much worse position than we were at the start of the pandemic due to high numbers of sickness.

“Our members are out there working 12-hour shifts which drag on longer than that. There are simply not enough staff.”

The pandemic has highlighted pressures facing nurses in Yorkshire and the rest of the UK.

Fears over health and safety, stress levels and patient complexity have all increased since the start of the pandemic, while staffing levels and the ability to take breaks have worsened.

Mr Turp said, while Britain was thought to be short of at least 40,000 nurses, it was impossible to say accurately because the Government would not release the figures.

He said: “There’s a total lack of transparency from the government over the nursing figures. They will not share data with us over the real shortages.

“Why would you run an organisation without the right number of staff? You wouldn’t get on a plane with a trainee pilot flying solo.”

Between 2010 and 2018, the number of doctors working in the NHS increased by 15 per cent but the number of nurses remained relatively flat.

Figures from economic body OECD showed the UK had some of the lowest numbers of nursing graduates per head in the developed world - a third of the proportion of Australia and around half as many as the US.

The Royal College of Nursing is calling on governments to properly invest in the training of new nurses.

In all countries of the UK, nursing students must have fees abolished and receive a universal living maintenance grant that reflects actual student need, the union said.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak granted nurses a pay rise in November, which comes into effect this May.

While the amount has not yet been agreed, nurses complained that it was not likely to make up for a decade of pay cuts as their wages have been frozen while the cost of living has risen.

The Government has been contacted for a response.