Commenting on the new clinical standards pilots announced today by NHS England, Dame Donna Kinnair, Acting Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said:
“These proposals for pilots have been drawn up in consultation with clinicians, and we back the approach of treating the sickest patients fastest.Moves to give cancer patients a diagnosis within 28 days are a welcome step forward, and all nurses, not just those working in mental health, will support the plan to provide emergency care within an hour to people who go to A&E with a mental health crisis.
"However, it’s hard to see exactly how it will be possible to meet these new more stringent standards without more staff – or they would already be taking these sensible measures. We will need accurate and honest feedback from the pilots to ascertain whether it is possible to roll out these measures nationally with the huge workforce gaps we currently have”.
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