Latest editorial
NHS workers on the picket line outside St Thomas' Hospital, London, May 1, 2023
THE NHS is facing a “perfect storm” of nurse shortages which will make planned government reforms “impossible,” the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warns today.
The union said nurses are quitting in their thousands “due to burnout and exhaustion caused by low staffing levels, increasing patient need, and a lack of recognition from government.”
Around 350,000 nurses are employed under the NHS and the service has 46,800 vacancies of which more than 32,000 are in England.
With 121,000 vacancies and 44.8% of staff feeling unwell from work stress, the NHS 10-year plan will not succeed unless the government takes immediate action to retain existing staff, writes ANNETTE MANSELL-GREEN
Government urged ‘to tackle the root causes’ of the NHS crisis and improve ‘social care services’
