The NHS crisis of caring for staff

The NHS crisis of caring for staff It is astonishing that politicians have watched the NHS staff crisis develop to this point without taking action. The reality is more than 100,000 NHS staff vacancies – that’s 1 in 11 of all NHS posts. There are very high levels of staff turnover with large numbers of nursing, midwifery and medical staff leaving every month (in secondary care, community services and general practice in particular). And there are chronically high levels of sickness absence and presenteeism. Add to this the struggle most NHS organisations now have in recruiting staff and the picture becomes clear. This is a crisis that threatens the ability of the service to deliver safe, high-quality care for the people in our communities. In any other industry, increasing staff turnover, absenteeism and difficulty recruiting would be seen as red flags, warning of fundamental toxicity in organisational cultures. The King's Fund