Responding to the latest NHS Urgent and Emergency Daily Situation Report and Sickness Absence data, RCN Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said:
“The pressure on nursing staff and the effect on their patients is exactly why we are taking strike action.
"With thousands of patients still stuck in hospitals in England who are medically fit to be discharged – up from this time a month ago – the pressure on nursing staff and hospitals is extremely high. The effect on staff is evident – with mental health reasons the most cited for nursing staff sickness and almost a quarter of all sick days taken for this reason. It has created a perfect storm where patient care is not safe, and staff are under intolerable stress.
"The Government cannot blame the pandemic and other winter pressures for the crisis unfolding before our eyes – this has been a long time in the making yet the Government has consistently ignored the clear signs.
"The Prime Minister and his ministers need to negotiate a fair pay rise for nursing before they push nurses out into the cold and onto picket lines once again."
Ends
Notes to Editors
- Both the NHS Sickness Absence data and NHS England Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Report were published earlier today.
- For the week commencing 16 January, an average of 13,566 per day remain in hospital despite no longer meeting the criteria to reside. Four weeks prior, the average was just 12,674 according to the NHS England Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Report.
- For the month of October, 24% of all nursing staff sickness absence was attributed to anxiety/stress/depression/other psychiatric illnesses, cited in the NHS Sickness Absence data.
