News
Survey: ‘dangerously’ low levels of staff By Jennifer Sprinks @JenniferSprinks TOO MANY hospitals risk repeating the failures that occurred at Stafford Hospital because staffing levels remain dangerously inadequate despite nurse recruitment drives across the UK, a survey by Unison suggests. The union polled more than 5,000 nurses across the UK on February 10 to ‘spot test’ a typical day in the NHS. It found 65% of respondents said care was left undone due to understaffing even though nurses worked unpaid overtime and through their breaks. This compares with 54% of nurses in last year’s survey warning that care was being left undone. Unison expressed disappointment that the survey results are no better than last year’s findings. This year, 42% of nurses were caring for eight or more patients during the day, rising to 55% of staff on night shifts, compared with last year’s
On the move A SENIOR nurse who contributed to former prime minister Gordon Brown’s commission on the future of nursing and who assisted the Victoria Climbié inquiry has been appointed as the RCN’s head of nursing. Dame Donna Kinnair, former editor of Nursing Management, will leave her post as clinical director of emergency medicine at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust to join the college on June 1. She will replace Steve Jamieson, who worked at the RCN for over 16 years. He has been appointed chief executive at the Hospice of St Francis, Hertfordshire. Professor Kinnair advised the prime minister’s commission on the future of nursing and midwifery in 2010, and was a nursing and child health assessor for the 2003 inquiry into the abuse and murder of eight-year-old Victoria Climbié by her great aunt Marie-Thérèse Kouao and her boyfriend Carl Manning. 6
May 2015 | Volume 22 | Number 2
Spot test reveals 43% of nurses think their workplaces are at risk of Mid Staffs scenario figure of 45% during the day and 51% at night. Forty three per cent of nurses stated that their workplace was at risk of a Mid Staffs-style problem, or that it was already happening in some parts of their organisation. This compares with 48% saying the same last year. Unison is calling for mandatory staffing levels, similar to ratios set in California, such as one nurse to four patients in medical and surgical wards. Unison head of nursing Gail Adams said: ‘Any organisations that use agency or bank staff, have nurses working through their breaks or staying late should see these as red flag warning signs that staffing is insufficient and should be acted on. There
Not enough places for students yet number of nurses still short AN INCREASING number of applicants are being turned away from nursing degree programmes yet the nursing profession is over-stretched, with fewer nurses providing more care, says the RCN. The college conducted a survey with the university admissions service UCAS that revealed that in 2014 more than 30,000 potential nursing students were turned away because there were 52,530 applications for just 21,205 places. The Fragile Frontline report welcomes the fact that Health Education England increased training commissions last year and recommended a further increase of 4.5% this year. However, it says the number of places remains lower than in 2009. The college says there are 1,845 fewer nurses now in England than five years ago. This shortage of NHS nurses is being masked by the fact that the number of posts has increased since 2010. While overall the number of whole-time equivalent
is a huge lack of morale and motivation, which is reflected in the survey showing no improvements in staffing over the past few years.’ The union’s report, Red Alert: Unsafe Staffing Levels Rising, states it expected positive results in the wake of Sir Robert Francis’s report on Mid Staffs and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance published last year on safe staffing levels in acute settings in England. The Safe Staffing Alliance, a group of senior nurses brought together by Nursing Standard, says care becomes unsafe on wards when staffing levels reach a ratio of one nurse to eight patients. See analysis, pages 8-9
(WTE) posts has increased by 6,434 since 2010, the RCN says the ‘true picture’ is less positive. When excluding midwives, health visitors and school nurses from the total figure, the number of WTE posts has only increased by 1,470. Furthermore, while WTE posts have increased, the number of nurses filling these positions has fallen by 1,845.
Leadership to be judged on how BME staff are treated ALL ORGANISATIONS with staff working in the NHS will be judged on how they treat black and minority ethnic (BME) staff compared with non-BME employees. The Workforce Race Equality Standard contains nine equality indicators, including the likelihood of BME staff entering formal disciplinary processes, being appointed from shortlists and accessing non-mandatory training. The standard will be part of the Care Quality Commission’s rating of how well a trust is led NURSING MANAGEMENT
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Survey: ‘dangerously’ low levels of staff By Jennifer Sprinks @JenniferSprinks TOO MANY hospitals risk repeating the failures that occurred at Stafford Hospital because staffing levels remain dangerously inadequate despite nurse recruitment drives across the UK, a survey by Unison suggests. The union polled more than 5,000 nurses across the UK on February 10 to ‘spot test’ a typical day in the NHS. It found 65% of respondents said care was left undone due to understaffing even though nurses worked unpaid overtime and through their breaks. This compares with 54% of nurses in last year’s survey warning that care was being left undone. Unison expressed disappointment that the survey results are no better than last year’s findings. This year, 42% of nurses were caring for eight or more patients during the day, rising to 55% of staff on night shifts, compared with last year’s
On the move A SENIOR nurse who contributed to former prime minister Gordon Brown’s commission on the future of nursing and who assisted the Victoria Climbié inquiry has been appointed as the RCN’s head of nursing. Dame Donna Kinnair, former editor of Nursing Management, will leave her post as clinical director of emergency medicine at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust to join the college on June 1. She will replace Steve Jamieson, who worked at the RCN for over 16 years. He has been appointed chief executive at the Hospice of St Francis, Hertfordshire. Professor Kinnair advised the prime minister’s commission on the future of nursing and midwifery in 2010, and was a nursing and child health assessor for the 2003 inquiry into the abuse and murder of eight-year-old Victoria Climbié by her great aunt Marie-Thérèse Kouao and her boyfriend Carl Manning. 6
May 2015 | Volume 22 | Number 2
Spot test reveals 43% of nurses think their workplaces are at risk of Mid Staffs scenario figure of 45% during the day and 51% at night. Forty three per cent of nurses stated that their workplace was at risk of a Mid Staffs-style problem, or that it was already happening in some parts of their organisation. This compares with 48% saying the same last year. Unison is calling for mandatory staffing levels, similar to ratios set in California, such as one nurse to four patients in medical and surgical wards. Unison head of nursing Gail Adams said: ‘Any organisations that use agency or bank staff, have nurses working through their breaks or staying late should see these as red flag warning signs that staffing is insufficient and should be acted on. There
Not enough places for students yet number of nurses still short AN INCREASING number of applicants are being turned away from nursing degree programmes yet the nursing profession is over-stretched, with fewer nurses providing more care, says the RCN. The college conducted a survey with the university admissions service UCAS that revealed that in 2014 more than 30,000 potential nursing students were turned away because there were 52,530 applications for just 21,205 places. The Fragile Frontline report welcomes the fact that Health Education England increased training commissions last year and recommended a further increase of 4.5% this year. However, it says the number of places remains lower than in 2009. The college says there are 1,845 fewer nurses now in England than five years ago. This shortage of NHS nurses is being masked by the fact that the number of posts has increased since 2010. While overall the number of whole-time equivalent
is a huge lack of morale and motivation, which is reflected in the survey showing no improvements in staffing over the past few years.’ The union’s report, Red Alert: Unsafe Staffing Levels Rising, states it expected positive results in the wake of Sir Robert Francis’s report on Mid Staffs and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance published last year on safe staffing levels in acute settings in England. The Safe Staffing Alliance, a group of senior nurses brought together by Nursing Standard, says care becomes unsafe on wards when staffing levels reach a ratio of one nurse to eight patients. See analysis, pages 8-9
(WTE) posts has increased by 6,434 since 2010, the RCN says the ‘true picture’ is less positive. When excluding midwives, health visitors and school nurses from the total figure, the number of WTE posts has only increased by 1,470. Furthermore, while WTE posts have increased, the number of nurses filling these positions has fallen by 1,845.
Leadership to be judged on how BME staff are treated ALL ORGANISATIONS with staff working in the NHS will be judged on how they treat black and minority ethnic (BME) staff compared with non-BME employees. The Workforce Race Equality Standard contains nine equality indicators, including the likelihood of BME staff entering formal disciplinary processes, being appointed from shortlists and accessing non-mandatory training. The standard will be part of the Care Quality Commission’s rating of how well a trust is led NURSING MANAGEMENT
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 30, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
