‘Crisis’ alert over nurse vacancies

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the NHS in England is potentially operating with nearly 20,000 fewer full-time staff than planned.

Freedom of Information requests by the RCN found that hospitals’ average vacancy rates were around six per cent.

Extrapolating the figures from 61 hospitals, the college said this would amount to nearly 20,000 full-time equivalent nursing, midwifery or health visitor vacancies including 1,100 in Yorkshire.

As a result of the NHS’s efficiency drive, many trusts froze vacancies or held posts vacant, said the college. In the aftermath of the care crises at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust and Winterbourne View care home, employers have “turned a corner” and started recruiting again – but the supply of nurses has reduced, it claimed.

A 15 per cent reduction in student nurses combined with an ageing workforce and staff leaving due to excess workloads all contributed to a “workforce crisis”.

The RCN said that as a result of nursing shortages, 22 per cent of trusts said they have recruited nursing staff from abroad.

RCN chief executive Peter Carter said: “Understaffing remains a real issue and we know that many trusts are down to the bone in terms of the number of front-line nursing staff they have due to cutting posts to save money.”

Health Minister Norman Lamb said: “Overall, the number of clinical staff in the NHS has increased by nearly 4,100 and the number of admin staff has fallen by 22,800.

“The Chief Inspector of Hospitals will be able to take action if trusts are found to be compromising patient care by not having the right number of staff on wards.”