RCN: Action needed to remedy nurse staffing crisis

Urgent action is needed to rectify the significant shortfall in the number of nurses employed within the NHS, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

The organisation has highlighted figures from a recent Health Education England report showing NHS employers are currently struggling to recruit nurses, with around ten percent of nursing posts being left vacant.

More than half of organisations are considering hiring nurses from abroad because there are not enough in the UK, suggesting serious issues with NHS workforce planning, according to the RCN.

Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary of the RCN, said the problem can be partially remedied by encouraging registered nurses who no longer work in the NHS to return to practice, but that more wide-ranging action is also needed.

He added: "Without an increase in nurse numbers the quality of patient care in the NHS is being jeopardised. This cannot continue."

This comes at a time when new laws governing safe staffing levels are coming into effect, with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence issuing draft recommendations on the matter for adult inpatient wards at acute hospitals earlier this month.