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Our campaign for safe and dignified care for every patient
We need the right number of staff in the right places with the right skills to keep patients safe. We're responsible for the majority of patient care. We assess what patients need, day in, day out.
And yet, too many of us are forced to care for upwards of 16 patients at a time, and even more in community case loads. This puts overwhelming pressure on us and risks the safety of our patients.
For our health and social care system to be what it should be, it’s vital that those in power enshrine nurse-to-patient ratios in law, so we're always sufficiently staffed and never forced to compromise.
Join us to demand better.
The treatment of patients in inappropriate areas such as corridors is increasingly common. Nothing about 'corridor care' resembles care. We need your help to put an end to this unsafe practice.
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Nursing staffing levels impact patient safety. We can’t improve one without improving the other. Our Nursing Workforce Standards are a roadmap for designing a workforce that can offer patients the quality of care they deserve.
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Join us and campaign alongside other passionate nursing staff. Sign up to receive campaign news and opportunities for action. We won't stop until every workplace is safely staffed.
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Have you had to deliver care in an inappropriate setting? Are you forever seeing unsafe practices in your workplace?
Your experiences are helping us build a body of evidence to raise the issues affecting you and your patients and service users right now.
Use our resources to challenge unsafe staffing practices in your workplace. By calling them out, not only are you doing your duty, you're helping to secure a safer future for patients and nursing staff.
The evidence is clear. We need staffing levels that protect nursing staff and patient safety.
Patient care is put at unacceptable risk when there are too few nurses to deliver safe care.
It's high time we set limits on the number of patients a nurse can safely care for. That's why we're demanding safety-critical nurse to patient ratios in every health care setting in the UK.
Full and dignified care starts with properly staffed health care facilities. We've been calling on governments across the UK to demand they address nursing workforce shortages that are risking staff burnout and patient safety.
See our work in each country.
There's currently no law about nurse staffing in England. When a workplace is under-resourced, staff have no option but to continue or leave the profession. This pressure is unsustainable.
We've had significant victories for safe staffing in Scotland and Wales. Now it's time to make safe staffing a priority in England, too. That's why we're using every means available to influence legislation and win safe staffing in England.
There’s a severe shortage of nursing staff in Northern Ireland. 1,534 nursing vacancies remain unfilled in the HSC. A similar vacancy rate is estimated in independent and nursing home sectors.
We held strike action in 2019-20 to achieve pay equality and safe staffing. We continue to hold the Department of Health and Northern Ireland Executive to account for the delivery of the Health Minister’s safe staffing framework – particularly, the implementation of safe staffing legislation.
In June 2019, the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act became law. It was the first legislation in the UK to set out requirements for safe staffing in health and social care services.
The Act came into force in April 2024. It puts the legal duty on the NHS and the Scottish government to ensure there are enough registered nurses, midwives, and medical professionals available to allow employers to ensure safe staffing.
The Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act 2016 was the first law of its kind in the UK. It defines the appropriate number of nurses for children's wards and adult medical and surgical wards. And it requires health boards to provide enough staff for all patients to receive sensitive care.
Welsh RCN members won this change in legislation. We continue to campaign for its extension to all health care settings, particularly mental health inpatient wards, community nursing, and care homes.
Our campaign for proper recognition.
Our campaign for a better financial deal for nursing staff.
Our campaign for a healthy, developed and supported nursing workforce.
