Prime Minister urged to take action as nurses warn that the NHS is at breaking point

The Royal College of Nursing has issued a stark warning to the prime minister after staff declare they are at “breaking point.”

Healthcare professionals, charities and organisations have written a letter to prime minister Theresa May to demand urgent investment into the NHS.

With reports of patients waiting in corridors for up to 23 hours and overcrowded accident and emergency departments armed with “too few staff”, the RCN has described the situation as a “crisis” which is putting lives at risk. 

Chief executive and general secretary of the RCN Janet Davies said: “How long does the government think the NHS can survive on the dedication and good will of staff who are at breaking point?

“We have heard from frontline nurses who want to give the best care they can for their patients but are being told to discharge patients before they are fit just to free up beds. 

"It’s a vicious circle with community health and social care also struggling to cope with demand. We do not say we need more staff, funding and resources as a matter of routine. We are saying the health and well-being of the nation needs an NHS which is fit for purpose.”

News of overcrowded A&Es have been hitting the headlines over the past few months as problems in the social care system have sent the NHS into meltdown. 

One sister in a large trauma unit said staff across the UK were being let down by the government. 

She said: “My staff were broken and distressed. By the end of the day you could see their care-worn, exhausted faces, feeling like they’ve failed. But really it’s the government that has failed.

“Tonight I’ve come home and I’ve sat and cried about not being able to get a 99-year-old lady off a trolley onto a bed, because we just didn’t have any left.

“We all keep going because what else can we do? Several times recently patients and relatives have asked staff if they’re ok. I’ve seen at least three members of staff hugged by relatives because they were so upset about their relatives being in corridors or in pain for too long. Our compassion doesn’t have a limit but our energy and our ability to maintain our care does.”

As frontline staff decide that enough is enough, 75 key individuals and organisations say “now is the time to act” and have put pen to paper to demand immediate action is taken by the government. 

In the letter they ask the government to begin a cross-party process to find a long-term solution to the crisis. They say the process must be inclusive - established by the government with meaningful cross-party engagement.

It must be open - by listening to the public and professionals who use the service on a daily basis, and urgent. 

Ms Davies said: “Nursing staff make up the biggest proportion of the NHS workforce. They are the backbone of the health service.

“The government must attract more people into the profession and invest in nursing across all areas. We need to have enough nurses with the right skills, in the right places – in hospitals, in people’s homes, in schools and in care homes. The future of nursing is at stake.”