RCN calls for UK wide approach to nursing crisis

25 Sep 03
The four UK health departments must launch a co-ordinated programme to tackle nurse shortages or patient care will be put at risk, the Royal College of Nursing said this week.

26 September 2003

The four UK health departments must launch a co-ordinated programme to tackle nurse shortages or patient care will be put at risk, the Royal College of Nursing said this week.

The four countries have major nurse recruitment initiatives but the RCN said progress varied and there was still major scope for improvement.

In its research of the UK nursing labour market, the college found that nursing recruitment had increased most in England, largely as a result of its success in attracting nurses from other countries. The report, More nurses, working differently?, said the English NHS had seen an 11% rise between 1999 and 2002, with an influx of about 34,000 overseas nurses.

The rates of growth have been slower in Wales (8%), Northern Ireland (6%) and Scotland (5%). The RCN warned that the slow rates of growth in these countries could be compounded by the introduction of foundation trusts, which may be able to offer more attractive terms and conditions.

'The severe imbalance in the rate of growth of the UK nursing labour workforce is putting the future of patient care at risk. It requires an urgent co-ordinated action plan by the UK's four health departments,' said RCN general secretary Beverly Malone.

The plan should ensure the UK's nursing workforce continues to grow over the next decade.

'The evidence is that nurses are still struggling to meet the workload and, without urgent action from all the health ministers, we are heading for a decade where quality patient care is put at risk,' she added.

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