87% of GMB members are worried about staffing
GMB, the union for health service workers, says a new NAO report shows the Government is ignoring the true state of the NHS.
The paper, out today, says staff shortages and difficulty recruiting staff ‘presents a real risk’ that some of the extra funding will either go on expensive agency staff or will be unspent as there are not enough staff to deliver the plan.
Rachel Harrison, GMB National Officer, said:
“These NAO figures back up what GMB has been saying for some time - of course the NHS staffing crisis is going to threaten the long term plan.
Not only have the Government failed to address the vacancies within the NHS, they are failing to address the reasons why loyal staff are leaving.
Rachel Harrison, GMB National Officer
“With more than 100,000 vacancies, and no credible plan of how this will be dealt with - the Government seems to be ignoring the true state of our health service.
“In a recent survey, 87% of GMB members raised staffing levels as a concern, while 48% saidthey had no time to care for patients properly.
“The long term plan has delayed the publication of the workforce strategy until later this year - no extra funding has been earmarked to deal with this. It is almost impossible to see how the plan can be delivered.
“Our NHS isn't just facing a recruitment crisis, it's facing a retention crisis as loyal NHS staff leave after years of real terms pay cuts and increasing workloads and pressures.
“Not only have the Government failed to address the vacancies within the NHS, they are failing to address the reasons why loyal staff are leaving.”
