Responding to a statement from the Department of Health and Social Care on extra nurses, Royal College of Nursing Chief Nurse Professor Nicola Ranger said:
“Nursing staff will reject government claims that it is ‘mission accomplished’ on nurse recruitment - this political target had no basis in the reality of demands on health care. There are still tens of thousands of nursing vacancies in the NHS.
"On every shift nursing staff are caring for too many patients. They’re spread perilously thin leaving patients waiting longer, and unable to provide the outstanding care that they want to.
“The ambitious workforce plan will remain a pipedream without proper investment and critical detail on how it will be achieved. Nursing staff won’t tolerate a status quo of low pay and endlessly increasing demands.”
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Notes to editors
NHS waiting list growing four times faster than the nurse workforce
