ABUSE and burnout suffered by nurses has been “normalised” in the NHS, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned.

The RCN was responding to a year-long Times Health Commission investigating key aspects of health and social care including recruitment, retention and training. The report is due to be published today.

RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said: “Nurses have been warning that the NHS is on life support for years — it will never be back on a stable footing unless greater value is put on staff.

She said recruitment and retention of nurses was in crisis due to low pay.

“Pay must be improved to recognise their safety-critical skills and working conditions improved — right now abuse and burnout are normalised. It’s an unacceptable disgrace. 

“Chronic staff shortages can cause high risk and unsafe patient care, where one nurse is looking after 10, 15 or more patients. We urgently call on the government to properly fund the NHS long-term workforce plan and ensure safe staffing levels on every shift, with a minimum number of nurses.”

She called for abolition of “sky-high” nurse tuition fees.

“Our health service will continue to fall over the precipice while there’s little incentive to become a nurse and those registered want to leave for better paid, less stressful jobs. 

“We all want a solutions-focused health service, with prevention at its core, initiatives to ensure efficiency and investment in social care.”

The NHS has more than 40,000 nurse vacancies.