A new poll published by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has discovered seven in 10 (69 per cent) NHS workers believe staffing and resource reductions are placing clinical standards and quality of patient care at risk.
In conjunction with YouGov, the poll of 500 workers – part of a joint report ‘NHS: Warnings from All Sides’ carried out by the TUC and the NHS Support Federation – claims there has been an ‘unprecedented wave’ of organisations flagging significant concerns about the growing crisis in the NHS. Royal Colleges, trade unions, health experts and the government’s own Mental Health Taskforce have all been reported to have ‘sounded the alarm’ within the last 12 months.
TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady said: “No-one knows the NHS better than the people who work for it. And the message from health workers is clear – funding pressures are putting patients at risk and damaging services.
“The Autumn Statement is a big opportunity for the Chancellor to provide the funding our health service desperately needs. Nearly 80 per cent of NHS staff want the government to keep the promises made to the British public during the referendum, and put the money into our NHS. Keeping the NHS running and transforming its services can’t be done on the cheap. The health service needs an immediate funding boost, and a long-term financial plan.”
The poll also revealed that 79 per cent say the Vote Leave’s campaign promise of £350 million for the NHS should be kept; 60 per cent say their employer has cut patient services to make financial savings; 88 per cent believe the health service is under more pressure now than at any time in their working lives; and 77 per cent think resources and staffing in the NHS have gone down in the past five years.
