Responding to the latest NHS performance figures, RCN Director for England Patricia Marquis said:
“Horrendous waits are becoming normalised in a system that cannot cope with demand. Whilst the NHS continues to battle chronic nursing workforce shortages, the number of those waiting the longest has grown and waiting times for urgent cancer referrals are still way below target. Having the right amount of staff is intrinsically linked to providing quick, safe and effective care.
“Nursing staff deliver the vast majority of care in every health and care setting, but with tens of thousands of nurse posts unfilled, bringing down waiting lists is made all the harder.
“We will only have enough nurses to give patients the care they deserve when they are paid fairly. Until then we will live in a vicious cycle of nursing staff being forced to leave the NHS, waiting lists getting higher and patients’ health worsening while they wait.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
Some 14,013 people in England had been waiting more than 18 months to start routine hospital treatment at the end of January, up from 13,164 at the end of December.
The data also shows the number of people waiting longer than two years has increased from 282 at the end of December to 376 at the end of January.
