Staff increases 'insignificant', warns BMA

Modest increases in NHS staffing levels are ‘insignificant’ and go no way towards addressing the vast challenges facing the health service, according to the BMA. The warning comes after a report published by the HSCIC (Health and Social Care Information Centre) showed a 1.8 per cent rise in overall numbers of FTE (full-time-equivalent) staff working in the NHS in the period ending 30 September 2015, compared to the same period the previous year. BMA council chair Mark Porter (pictured) said that the increase, which translates to an additional 18,300 across the whole health service, would not begin to address the mounting pressures facing the NHS. He said: ‘The reported rise in staffing levels of barely 2 per cent is insignificant given what the NHS needs when it is facing rapidly increasing patient demand, especially from an ageing population with complex health needs that requires expanding support in the community and in hospitals. ‘Many bodies, including the Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of Midwives, have reported under staffing in their specialties that is already having a damaging impact on patient care. ‘These figures show little evidence of the huge expansion in the workforce that is needed to deliver the Government’s uncosted and vague plan to increase the NHS’s capacity through it so-called seven-day service proposal.’   Worrying decline A breakdown of overall NHS trust and clinical commissioning grou...
Source: BMA News - Category: UK Health Source Type: news