Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, is putting his support behind the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) campaign for safe staffing.
Safe staffing means having enough nursing staff with the right skills and knowledge, in the right place, at the right time. Without safe staffing levels in place, nursing staff are struggling to provide patients with the safe and effective care they would like to, and which patients deserve.
Gwynne met with nursing staff from across the North West in Parliament to discuss safe staffing and to pledge his support for their campaign for safe and effective care to be enshrined in law in England.
The RCN is campaigning for legislation to guarantee nurse staffing levels in England across all sectors and settings.
Andrew Gwynne said:
“Nursing staff play such a pivotal role in our NHS and should be supported so that they can carry out their vital duties as effectively as possible.
“Unfortunately, many English hospitals at the moment do not have the right level of nursing staff and this must change.
“That’s why I’m backing the RCN’s safer staffing campaign so that patients across England receive the safe and effective care that they deserve.”
RCN England Director Patricia Marquis said:
“Health and care services are reaching a tipping point, with nurses routinely working many hours of unpaid overtime to deliver the care people need. This puts nurses under impossible strain and puts patients at risk.
“We are clear that this is because there is no explicit accountability in law to ensure that there are enough professionals – with the right skills mix, in the right place, at the right time – to provide safe and effective care to patients across England.
“Our members have a clear message for the government – change the law so that health and care services can’t be starved of much-needed staff.”
