Election: NHS Nurses are in Critical Condition

Nurses are the largest group of workers in the NHS. They work in every department and are the backbone, limbs and heart of the health service but they’re now the most at-risk group. Nurse numbers are plummeting and with further cuts threatened, our 70-year-old NHS is in dire need of a miracle cure.

Foreign Aid

The NHS is heavily reliant on foreign workers. Some 14% of clinical staff and 26% of doctors aren’t British. With the system already strained, we wouldn’t want to do anything to alienate those life-saving workers, would we?

Last July showed that half the country had no such qualms. Since the EU referendum result the number of European nurses joining the NHS register has fallen by 92%. Just as worrying, the number of EU nurses deciding to leave the UK has sharply risen, with January 2017 numbers doubling that of June 2016. It’s a devastating blow to a system already significantly short of nursing staff.

Plummeting nurse numbers sound bad but don’t often get the same attention as doctors and GPs. It’s no secret that doctors are given more kudos than nurses. Medical degrees take five years with another 1-2 years foundation training, and the study is notoriously demanding. Specialising adds more time, so many doctors don’t enter their chosen field for nearly 10 years.

Though nursing isn’t as respected, it also comes with hard work and extensive study. A degree in nursing takes three to four years after which they’ll likely specialise in either mental, adult, child or learning disability nursing. Those extra qualifications can be a further three-year postgrad degree. Like doctors, nurses might specialise further for a specific ward such as intensive care. Qualifying as a nurse can take as much time as for a doctor but for less pay.

The Vital Role

So what do nurses actually do? While doctors diagnose, prescribe and carry out specialist treatment like surgery, nurses are the central caregivers. They observe, carry out treatment and can act as both physical and mental therapist for patients. They also manage wards and can help with medical research.

When most people think of hospitals they think of doctors but if you’re admitted the most familiar figures will be your nurses. Nurses greet, treat and work with you and get to know the person behind the charts.

A study by the Nursing Times showed that nursing hours are mostly focused on procedures such as changing dressings or injections, hygiene and toileting but they also cover a great number of other duties such as meal rounds, liaising with relatives and mobilising patients.

Care Provider Politics

Nurses are the face of our hospitals and our treatment. Without them, the NHS would quickly fall apart and we need to take note of the early warning signs. Almost every hospital in the UK now has a nursing shortage and the service has lost 9% of its public health nurses in the last year. With the Government demanding further cuts that number will only shrink.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt (left) claimed that a post-Brexit NHS wouldn’t rely on foreign workers. The Conservatives insisted they would support those studying medical degrees but NHS school nurse numbers also dropped by 6% this year and Hunt’s promises are still just talk. While he wants to assure NHS workers from the EU about their right to stay in the UK his party seems far more concerned about using them as negotiating tools. You can contact Jeremy here jeremy4swsurrey@gmail.com

Brexit hasn’t just increased employment uncertainties for foreign healthcare workers – it’s also increased tensions within hospitals. Official stats say that racist attacks on NHS staff have more than doubled in the last year and continue to rise.

So if the Government doesn’t put off our overseas-born nurses, some of their patients will. It’s insult added to an injury that could seriously wound the National Health Service.

 

by Jo Davey

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