Responding to the fact that more than one in 10 people in England are now on an NHS waiting list, RCN Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said:
“With more than one in 10 people on the NHS waiting list, there is still no room at the inn. NHS capacity is at breaking point as patients are treated in corridors and backed up in ambulances. It’s undignified, unsafe, and behind the statistics are patients who will be suffering this Christmas.
“There are nowhere near enough nursing staff. There are staff shortages on almost every shift and over 40,000 nursing vacancies in the NHS in England.
“The government is running out of time to turn this around before the next election – this winter will be just as challenging as the last. Waiting lists have almost tripled since 2010. Nursing staff won’t stomach being forced to deliver unsafe care, endlessly increasing demands and low pay.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
Since May 2010, according to the NHS Referral to Treatment (RTT) Waiting Times data, the number of RTT incomplete pathways was 2.60m. This figure has almost tripled and is now 7.71m in Oct 2023.
Incomplete pathways are waiting times for patients waiting to start treatment at the end of the month. The number is down 0.8% - or 65,518 patients versus last month.
The latest NHS England Vacancy statistics show that the number of vacant nursing posts during the second quarter of 2023/24 was at 42,306.
