Nurses call for more patient time

Nurses and healthcare workers believe new legislation to introduce minimum staffing levels is needed, according to a survey.

Three quarters of the 1,500 Unison members surveyed said they do not have enough time with patients to give them dignified, safe, and compassionate care, and up to 90% said they were in favour of minimum staffing levels being specified in law.

Unison said the respondents - who included nurses, healthcare assistants, assistant practitioners, support workers, midwives and health visitors - conveyed the 'severe pressure' which NHS workers are under.

Asked to note down information about their shifts in a 24-hour period on March 6, health workers' responses included: 'My workload meant that I was unable to deliver the standard of care that I would like,' and 'it is so unfair to the patients that have to wait for long periods to have a wash or get changed or even to get attention because we are too busy dealing with so many things at the same time'.

Unison's head of health, Christina McAnea, said: 'It is time to confront the evidence which clearly demonstrates that mandatory staffing levels are directly associated with a reduction in patient deaths.

'Unison is committed to quality patient care and we will be working hard to get the Government to listen and act on evidence that shows time and again the benefits of legally set staffing ratios.'

Copyright Press Association 2012