UK ministers must set out how to recruit and retain thousands more mental health nurses to plug the profession’s biggest staff shortage, healthcare leaders are warning.
Mental health nurses account for nearly a third of all nursing vacancies across England, resulting in overstretched services that are struggling to deliver timely care, according to research carried out by the NHS Confederation’s mental health network.
Sean Duggan, the network’s chief executive, said: “Mental health leaders and their teams are pulling out all the stops in what are very constrained circumstances, but they cannot be expected to solve this staffing crisis alone.
“The knock-on effect means that the mental health crisis the nation is facing will in turn become a crisis for the whole healthcare system and the country. This relentless pressure on mental health staff cannot be allowed to continue with the ultimate impact being on the patients who most need that care.”
Source: The Guardian, 16 May 2023
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