There are too few health and social care staff to provide safe and effective care.
Two separate damning reports published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) this week have revealed how the pandemic has left health and social care workers “exhausted and depleted”.
In its latest adult inpatient survey, the CQC found that one in three patients believe there are too few hospital staff to provide safe and effective care.
Today’s annual assessment of the state of health and social care in England found a social care system on the brink of collapse with some services closing their doors through a lack of staff.
A NursingNotes survey of 2,300 registered nurses reveals a massive 58% are planning on leaving the sector in the next three years, up from 34% two years ago.
Not enough staff to deliver care.
A lack of safe staffing levels, personal protective equipment during the peak of the pandemic, and poor pay and working conditions are among the top reasons for those looking to leave.
The CQC has warned that some services have closed their doors because “they don’t have enough staff to deliver care”.
Ian Trenholm, Chief Executive of CQC, said: “health and care workforce are exhausted and depleted – which has clear implications for the vital care they deliver.”
“While staffing is an issue for all sectors, we’re particularly concerned about adult social care.
“We’re seeing rising vacancy rates, some providers having to hand back their registrations as they don’t have enough staff to deliver care, and examples of quality suffering due to lack of staff.
Mr. Trenholm goes on to call for emergency funding for social care to recruit or retain more staff in order to keep social care services open.
Unsustainable.
Responding to the CQC State of Care report, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said: “As this report shows, unsustainable staffing pressures throughout the pandemic has taken a heavy toll on nursing staff and, most of all, patients across England.
“Unrelenting pressure is damaging patient care, with some care homes forced to close because they can’t recruit enough staff.
“The Health Secretary should be doing all he can to prioritise patient safety and credibly respond to repeated warnings about the nursing workforce crisis.
“The Government must invest in the workforce as an investment in patient safety.”
