Responding to the Prime Minister’s comments on strike action causing waiting lists to increase, RCN Director for England, Patricia Marquis said:
“This comment adds insult to injury. Blaming nurses for the state of the NHS is a low blow. Nursing staff voted to strike last year out of concern at deteriorating care standards and spiralling waiting times.
“Waiting lists were growing long before the pandemic and strike action - and the prime minister should take responsibility for the knife-edge position of the NHS and not point the finger.
“Nursing staff are doing everything they can but simply don’t have enough people to give patients the care they need. And the distress that this causes affects staff’s health, eventually leading to complete demoralisation and to nurses leaving the NHS.
“One way the government can address the crisis in the health service, and help ensure patients get the care they need, is by valuing the nursing profession properly and paying nurses fairly - otherwise we’ll see nurses continue to leave in their droves.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
NHS England/Digital data for England shows between 2011 and 2022 the size of the NHS elective care waiting list has grown 169%. In 2011, an annual average of 2.53 million patients were on waiting lists compared to 6.79 million in 2022. The data also shows a continual growth in waiting list numbers even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
