Responding to the latest NHS England statistics showing a record number of patients sitting on an NHS waiting list, RCN Chief Nursing Officer, Nicola Ranger, said:
“With a record number of patients now on a waiting list in England, the NHS is falling into deeper crisis.
“A decade of underinvestment in the NHS has led to dire consequences for patients and pushed many nursing staff out of the profession they love and with unrelenting pressure on those who remain.
“There are over 40,000 nursing vacancies in the NHS in England and with the recently announced NHS Workforce Plan, so much more needs to be done to both recruit and retain brilliant nursing staff. We will never be able to provide care to patients and tackle the backlog without nursing staff.”
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