The Ward Round: More NHS staff are quitting than ever before (HSJ, 11 January 2023)

Summary

In this article, HSJ's Annabelle Collins reflects on the increasing number of NHS staff quitting their jobs and the risk to patient safety of 'corridor care'.

Content

The number of NHS staff quitting their jobs has reached worrying new heights. According to the latest official data, over 42,400 staff voluntarily resigned from the health service in quarter two of this year – the highest number in any equivalent quarter over the last decade.

Some trusts have been very open about the measures they are being forced to resort to just to keep things running. The University Hospitals of North Midlands Trust confirmed corridor care has been officially brought back and risk-assessed, with staff recruited specifically to look after patients in corridors.

The trust has been clear – it does not want to treat patients in this way, but has no choice. There is a risk to patients and to the staff who care for them.

Helen Hughes, chief executive of charity Patient Safety Learning, said it would be valuable for trusts to have clear guidance and examples of good practice of corridor care that “prioritise patient safety”.

However, she stressed this should be a temporary measure and not be normalised. But many frontline staff would argued this has already happened – they have had to contend with corridor care off and on for the last decade.

Ms Hughes also stressed the negative impact caring for patients in corridors and other areas has on healthcare professionals themselves, “raising the risk of moral injury if they are unable to provide the appropriate level of care”.