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NURSE TO PATIENT RATIOS: THE 'SAFE STAFFING LEVELS SURVEY' - March 6th
On March 6th this year, UNISON conducted a national snapshot survey into safe staffing levels in the UK. The survey results are extremely disturbing.
73% of respondents felt that on 6 March 2012 staffing levels were so low in their workplace that they were unable to deliver safe, dignified, compassionate care.
This is deeply concerning. If you are working in an unsafe situation it is vital - to the patient and to your job - that you speak up. UNISON has developed the Be Safe pack for exactly this purpose. In it you will find a notification form that any staff member can use to make their concerns known, creating a chain of evidence if an incident does occur due to understaffing.
We know how hard you find it to raise concerns but you must. If your gut instinct says "This isn't safe" - listen to it and report it. Protect those in your care, your colleagues and yourself. By filling in the Be Safe form you're maintaining your professional reputation and your code of conduct in addition to helping us to help you. You can find the Be Safe pack here: http://www.unison.org.uk/file/A5882.pdf
90% of respondents supported the introduction of legislation requiring set minimum nurse to patient ratios.
UNISON supports set minimum nurse to patient ratios and believes that legislation is the only way to ensure safe staffing levels. This research uncovered hundreds of examples of employers who are self-policing their staffing levels to their own convenience. Legislation is the only way to ensure minimum staffing levels are adhered to.
Some of the comments from the survey were:
Data is always skewed. Whatever number of staff on the ward (usually under) nurses will go without breaks and work unpaid overtime to make sure patients are safe. If these shifts go without incident then the management will deem them as fine. If they don’t then it will be the nurses’ fault.
The unsafe levels of risk have damaged my health and I have had sickness as a result.
We usually always work on bare minimum, and when we had minimum ratios these were just reduced as management saw fit.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) requirement is three trained nurses, five healthcare support workers [in my area]. While CQC was visiting regularly we had agency staff, now we have dropped to pre CQC levels. We are a major event waiting to happen.
Senior staff change the dependency of patients to suit the number of staff on duty, so as to show that we can ‘cope’ even when we can’t.
I am a ward manager and have had nurse to patient ratios enforced on my unit in terms of cost per bed per day rather than the level of dependence of the patients."
Managers will try to get away with the minimum numbers they can. If there are any complaints about care on the ward, staffing numbers are never considered as a cause. Instead nurses are blamed for poor time management skills or failure to follow correct procedures.
It is always busy and the staffing levels are hardly taken into consideration all. Staff are cut at the expense of patient care and when anything goes wrong the staff will be blamed for the decisions of those in authority. It is rather unfair.
Whatever we say about staffing is ignored and we’re told there are plenty of other jobs we could work in; Tesco’s being given as an example.
I am concerned that the staffing ratios are often unsafe and feel that if I raise my concern that I will be bullied by management.
We were told shifts were not being covered as the ward budget could not cover the pay for bank staff and the pay for anyone off sick.
It’s an endless cycle: nurses work to the bone on a shift where they were short staffed; they don’t take breaks, drink water or go to the toilet; they’re working under the normal pressures of trying to deliver good care, manage acutely ill patients and meeting the demands of bed management pressures; then they become physically exhausted and are sick themselves for the next shift.
It is so unfair to the patients who have to wait for long periods to have a wash or get changed or even get attention because we are too busy dealing with so many things at the same time.
You can download and read the full report here: http://www.unison.org.uk/file/A5881.pdf
GET IN TOUCH IMMEDIATELY YOU KNOW YOU NEED REPRESENTATION
As our workload has significantly increased we require our members to contact us as soon they are informed of any meetings. Our diaries tend to fill up 2 weeks in advance so it is increasingly difficult to provide a rep at short notice. Our reps have to arrange time off with their manager so the maximum amount of notice is needed. We cannot represent staff who are not members of UNISON so we strongly urge non members to JOIN UNISON NOW, rather than waiting until you have a problem, as we will not be able to take up any issue that occurs before joining our union.
We can only represent UNISON members who have been members for at least FOUR Weeks and we therefore strongly recommend non-members to join NOW.
We need as many Reps as possible. The more Reps we have, the better we can fight job losses .... in ALL their forms.
We will provide you with the required training, which the Trust has a legal obligation to release you to undertake. The Trust also has to release you from your job to carry out Trade Union duties.
If you interested in becoming a Rep then please contact martin.benn@nuh.nhs.uk
Our strength & influence is directly proportional to the size & activity of our membership.
JOIN THE FIGHTBACK. BECOME INVOLVED IN UNISON, NOW. BEFORE IT'S TOO LATETUC - NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 'SAVE OUR SERVICES' CAMPAIGN - CLICK HERE
UNISON WORKPLACE VIOLENCE SURVEY
UNISON is concerned about the number of incidents of violence to our members. Violence includes threats, verbal abuse and harassment as well, as actual physical attacks and injury on staff by patients and members of the public. To gain more information about these risks of violence your Unison branch is conducting a confidential survey. Unison does not accept that you should tolerate violence at work as part of your job. It is not the individuals’ fault when it happens. Work related violence can and should be prevented and controlled by your employer. Please download THE FORM and give the completed form to you UNISON representative or post it to your UNISON office.
SAVE OUR NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE
In 2010, UNISON launched a NATIONAL CAMPAIGN to save our NHS.
Over 450,000 UNISON members make up the healthcare team - from paramedics to porters, nurses to cleaners - all playing a vital role in caring for patients and promoting health. They are proud that the NHS puts patients and the public at the heart of all it does and is at the cutting edge of improvements to patient care.
We must ensure that the NHS continues to be a public service that gives us quality services that are local, easy to access and free when we need them. ADD YOUR VOICE HERE
This Government has said that it is
protecting NHS spending.
This is NOT true.
To maintain current levels of service the NHS budget must be increased by 5%. This government has increased NHS
spending by 0.9%, in reality a 4% cut.
Over the next 4 years, this means a cut of around £147 million from the budget of
Nottingham University Hospitals Trust. This will mean a reduction of around 400 jobs this year and next year and a reduction of 104 beds.
Our Trust is in this dire position as a result of government spending cuts. Our colleagues in local government are facing cuts of 25%
This will have a massive effect on the care provided by Social Services, which will have serious implications for the NHS, as we may face huge problems discharging our patients into their care.
CHANGES TO THE NHS
As of April 2012 the 'ConDem' Government has placed the entire NHS budget in the hands of GP Consortia. They are now responsible for buying services from local hospitals, either NHS or
Private. UNISON believes this to be wholesale privatization of the NHS and this will result in massive
costs, money that could be spent on patient care. UNISON are challenging this in the courts as there has been no consultation with staff about these changes.
BRANCH COMMITTEE MEETINGS 2012
NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING: Tuesday June 5th. City Leisure Centre. 11:00 to 13:00
ALL COMMITTEE MEETING AND CONFERENCE DATES AND TIMES ARE ON THE BRANCH DIARY PAGE
TOGETHER WE CAN PROTECT OUR SERVICES, BOTH NATIONALLY & LOCALLY.
The best way to protect yourself against all these issues is to JOIN UNISON, Britain’s largest union.
Our website is regularly updated and we have a ‘Contacts’ page, from which you can gain direct access to any of our Stewards that are listed.
If any non-members would like to discuss joining UNISON, then please also feel free to phone the Branch Office on Extension 76381, or on Nottingham (0115) 9627651 from outside the hospital. Alternatively you can phone the QMC Office on Ext 68428 or you can click the Application Form link on the left, print it off, complete it, and send it into the Branch Office. Or alternatively, you can join UNISON directly HERE. Still unconvinced? The Why Join? page provides ten excellent reasons why joining UNISON paves the way for a more pleasant and safe working environment and improved efficiency in our roles, as well as showing you some of the added benefits of becoming a member.
If you would like to be come more involved in any of our campaigns and activities please do not hesitate to contact us.
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