STAFF WELFARE
in England after the training bursary was removed. Davies said: “The low pay in the profession – kept below inflation by the one per cent cap – means most students will never earn enough to repay the large loans. The move makes university seem out of reach for too many potential nurses at a time when they are needed most.”15 The RCN highlighted the impact that staff
shortages are having on nurses’ wellbeing earlier this year, reporting that some nurses are working up to 12-hour shifts without a break, food, or in some cases, even a glass of water.16
Clearly, this workload is
unsustainable – aside from the impact on the lives of NHS staff themselves, tired, hungry and thirsty individuals do not make good decisions; they make mistakes, patient safety is compromised, and caring values are harder to maintain under such pressure. While there is clearly a need to address these key issues at a Government level, there is still a great deal that Trusts can do to improve staff health and wellbeing. There are a growing number of Trusts that are implementing innovative approaches and initiatives, around the UK that others can learn from – including demonstrator sites. This may not solve all of the challenges, in relation to staff health and wellbeing, but the NHS cannot allow its staff to become the ‘shock absorbers of a system under pressure’. If the foundations of the system – the people who deliver care on the frontline – collapse under the strain, cracks in patient care will inevitably deepen and we run the risk of another scandal on an even greater scale than Mid Staffordshire. CSJ
References
1. Boorman, S, NHS Health and Well-being Final Report, November 2009.
2. King’s Fund, Improving NHS Care by Engaging Staff and Devolving Decision-Making: Report of the Review of Staff Engagement and Empowerment in the NHS, July 2014. Accessed at:
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/sites/files/kf/field/ field_publication_file/improving-nhs-care-by- engaging-staff-and-devolving-decision-making- jul14.pdf
3. Dawson, J, Staff experience and patient outcomes: what do we know? A report commissioned by NHS Employers on behalf of NHS England, July 2014, accessed at:
www.nhsemployers.org/~/ media/Employers/Publications/Research%20 report%20Staff%20experience%20and%20patient %20outcomes.pdf
4. Press release, ‘Staff wellbeing is key to a quality healthcare experience’, Picker Institute, 11 June, 2015, accessed at:
www.picker.org/news/staff- wellbeing-is-key-to-a-quality-healthcare-experience/
5. NHS England, NHS staff health & wellbeing: CQUIN Supplementary guidance, June 2016
6. NHS Digital figures cited in NHS Employers’ press release, ‘Latest NHS staff sickness absence statistics revealed’,25 July 2017.
7. NHS England’s staff survey, accessed at:
www.gov.uk/government/statistics/nhs-staff- survey-2016, March 2017.
8. Royal College of Physicians’ press release, ‘Wellbeing survey finds majority of consultants do not feel valued by their hospital’, July 2017, accessed at:
www.rcplondon.ac.uk/news/ wellbeing-survey-finds-majority-consultants- do-not-feel-valued-their-hospital
9. The Point of Care Foundation, Behind Closed Doors: Can we expect NHS staff to be the shock
20 I
WWW.CLINICALSERVICESJOURNAL.COM
absorbers of a system under pressure? July 2017, accessed at: https://16682-presscdn-
0-1-pagely.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/ 2017/07/Behind-Closed-Doors-July-2017.pdf
10. Society for Acute Medicine survey, May 2017, accessed at:
www.acutemedicine.org.uk
11. BMA press release, ‘BMA responds to new NHS digital vacancies data’, July 2017, accessed at:
www.bma.org.uk/news/media-centre/press- releases/2017/july/bma-responds-to-new-nhs- digital-vacancies-data
12. University of Exeter press release ‘Two in five GPs to ‘quit within five years’, April 2017, accessed at:
www.exeter.ac.uk/news/featurednews/title_ 577802_en.html
13. BMA press release, ‘More than half of salaried and locum GPs suffering from work related stress warns new BMA survey’, June 2017, accessed at:
www.bma.org.uk/news/media-centre/press- releases/2017/june/more-than-half-of-salaried- and-locum-gps-suffering-from-work-related- stress-warns-new-bma-survey
14. RCN press release, ‘A rise in vacancies and drop in full-time staff mean the Government must scrap the cap to fill posts, says RCN’, July 2017, accessed at:
www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/ news/new-data-a-double-whammy-for-nursing
15. RCN press release, ‘The sharp drop in student applications raises further questions over staff shortages in the NHS, the RCN has warned’, July 2017, accessed at:
www.rcn.org.uk/news- and-events/news/nursing-shortage-may-worsen
16. Jones-Berry, S, ‘More staff are working without breaks, claims RCN’, Nursing Standard, January 2017, accessed at:
https://rcni.com/ nursing-standard/newsroom/news/more- staff-are-working-without-breaks-claims- rcn-74811
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