Responding to the record 7.7m people sitting on an NHS waiting list, RCN Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said:
“Nurses across the country will be concerned that the Prime Minister has again missed his target to cut waiting times. It’s bad news for patients - since making his pledge to cut waiting lists in January, they have increased by nearly half a million.
“At the heart of this lies our patients’ safety. Patients can only be safe when there are enough nursing staff to care for them and there are now over 43,000 vacant nursing posts in England’s NHS alone. This is the result of a decade of underinvestment and devaluing of nursing which has put intolerable pressure on the health and care system. Patients are now waiting longer for treatment, sitting in pain with their conditions worsening and getting more complex.
“With World Patient Safety Day this weekend, patients desperately need to see these waiting lists start to come down.”
Ends
