Sick patients 'waiting hours' for pain relief while others 'falling from hospital beds' due to nurse shortages, report warns
Nurse numbers have increased by 33% since 2009, compared with 60% for doctors
Hospital patients are waiting hours for pain relief and others are falling from hospital beds causing broken bones or brain bleeds due to a shortage in nurses, experts have warned.
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Others are "deteriorating needlessly" in a crisis which has been linked to having too few registered nurses on shift in NHS trusts up and down the country.
A new report from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) shows how the gap can have "serious implications for patient safety"
It highlights how some hospitals are dealing with hundreds of patient safety incidents each month and includes an analysis of NHS hospital board papers on "nursing red flags" including delays to pain relief, essential medication and missed care.
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One nurse in the East of England told the RCN: "On my unit, an elderly patient fell out of bed and suffered a brain bleed.
"Night staff were short and there was no one outside the bay to witness the fall and help for at least ten minutes.
"Everyone was so worried about the brain injury that it took seven days to realise she actually had a broken hip as well.
"On every single shift, there’s at least one thing that doesn’t get done. This includes pain medication, particularly at night when staff have bigger caseloads, and the delays can be hours at a time."
Another nurse in the West Midlands said: "A shift that has enough staff is considered green and we haven’t had one in over six months.
"You just cannot give quality care if you’re looking after ten acutely sick patients each."
The report says there were around 23,000 nursing vacancies in England, but these figures "understate the true shortfall" as they do not account for frozen or unfunded posts.
The authors warn that staffing is “unevenly distributed across England” and highlight how growth in the number of doctors has not been matched by the number of nurses.
Since 2009, nurse numbers have increased by 33%, compared with 60% for doctors, the report states.
It adds that if nurse numbers had grown at the same rate as doctors, England would currently have more than 77,000 additional nurses.
Professor Nicola Ranger, RCN general secretary and chief executive, added: "It's utterly shocking that sick patients should wait hours for pain relief or vital medication while some are falling, breaking bones and deteriorating needlessly.
"The truth is patient safety incidents aren’t isolated and trusts are recording hundreds each month due to registered nurse shortages."
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "This government is putting more staff on the frontline, with 14,000 more nurses employed by the NHS now compared with July 2024.
"Alongside this, we are continuing to drive forward key patient safety reform, and from Tuesday, Martha’s Rule will be extended to hospital A&E departments in England, making it easier for staff and patients to ask for a second opinion.
"Our ten-year Workforce Plan will put the NHS workforce on a sustainable footing and ensure the NHS has the staff it needs to deliver for patients, both now and in the future."