NURSES have warned that staff shortages, combined with patients’ increasingly complex care needs, could prove a deadly mix without government action.

As Royal College of Nursing (RCN) delegates gather in Liverpool for their conference today, the union has published a members’ survey indicating that 79 per cent had seen clinical complexity rise over the last two years. 

But only one in 10 thought staffing levels were sufficient to meet patient needs, with 69 per cent saying the situation had forced tough decisions on prioritising care.

The figures were even more acute in Scotland, where 82 per cent of respondents saw an increase in complexity; just 8 per cent believed they were adequately staffed and 76 per cent reported having to make tough decisions as a result.

RCN general secretary Professor Nicola Ranger will tell conference: “Widespread vacancies of registered nurses are always unsafe, but the risk is being compounded by the demands of delivering ever more complex care to an ageing, sicker population, with multiple conditions. It is a deadly mix.

“We need a new approach, away from the flawed ‘finger in the wind’ workforce planning which led us here.

“Anything else lays the ground for another patient safety disaster.”

Challenging the Scottish government, RCN Scotland executive director Colin Poolman said: “When NHS nursing staff in Scotland say there is a high risk of harm to patients because staffing is below what is needed, the government must act.

“Scotland’s population cannot afford for them to be complacent to rising dangerously unmet levels of patient need.”

SNP MSP Michelle Campbell said: “Under the SNP, the number of nurses and midwives working in our NHS is up by over 21 per cent and band-five nurses in Scotland are the best paid anywhere in the UK.

“We established a new nursing & midwifery taskforce to address recruitment and retention challenges and are fully committed to taking forward its actions to improve the profession and make nursing an attractive and rewarding career.”

A Department of Health & Social Care spokesperson said: “We have recruited 16,000 more nurses and health visitors since we were elected in July 2024 and our upcoming 10-year workforce plan will set out a clear roadmap to improve working lives in the NHS, including better treatment of staff, higher-quality training, and more fulfilling roles.”