Responding to today's (Wednesday 4 November) NHS England press conference, Dame Donna Kinnair, RCN Chief Executive and General Secretary, said:
"We agree that staff is the NHS's most precious resource. The public might see this as a second wave but nursing staff haven't stopped working this year. Winter is usually a difficult period for our members without the added pressure of a pandemic. Health services must do all they can to protect the wellbeing of staff who have worked under tremendous pressure not only to cope with COVID demand but to ensure routine services delivered safely for patients.
"The NHS in England has clearly made efforts to train more nursing staff to enable them to provide intensive care to those who need it but NHS leaders must tell us more about how many staff have these skills and how many more it needs. They must tell us which parts of the country are lacking experienced, specialist staff who provide expert care safely for patients and are very difficult to replace."
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