Peter Lazenby
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NURSES’ leaders warned today that “waits, delays and unrelenting pressure on staff” are affecting “every corner of the NHS” and demanded immediate investment in the nursing workforce.
The call came as new NHS figures revealed that numbers of hospital patients waiting more than a year for treatment have multiplied 30-fold in the last year.
There was a 27-fold increase in the number of people waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted to hospital from accident and emergency departments in the last 12 months — up from 695 in May last year to 19,053 this year.
The bleak picture of the health service in crisis came from government agency NHS England in its latest performance data.
They stated that 6.5 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of April — up from 6.4 million in March.
It is the highest number since records began in August 2007.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said government action was needed urgently.
RCN director for England Patricia Marquis said: “The pressures on emergency services are unrelenting and well documented, lives are at risk as ambulances queue for hours and beds remain full.
“The number of patients waiting more than 12 hours to be admitted from A&E is nearly 30 times higher than it was this time last year.
“We are also seeing the number of people waiting to start routine treatment rising to yet another record high, despite a fall in two-year waits.
“Waits, delays and unrelenting pressure on staff are present in every corner of the NHS — they are the symptoms of a growing crisis — from A&E to social care.
“Ministers need to invest in the nursing workforce, which includes giving a fair pay rise, to urgently ease the pressure and ensure patients can be treated.”
Labour’s health spokesman Wes Streeting said that the longer the Conservatives were in power the longer the waiting lists would grow.
“The longer we give the Conservatives, the longer patients wait,” he said.
“Labour will provide the NHS with the staff, equipment and modern technology needed to get patients treated on time.”
The government and NHS England have set the ambition of eliminating all waits of more than a year by March 2025.
