RCN nursing levels report
Published on 21 March 2012 11:30 AM
Responding to a Royal College of Nursing report which claims older people's care in hospitals is being compromised because there are too few nurses, Age Cymru's Director of Influencing and Programme Development Victoria Lloyd says:
"Good quality care must combine high quality clinical care with compassionate care.
"Nurses need time to be able to look after, listen and respond to their older patients, many of whom will have complex medical and emotional needs.
"When healthcare professionals are understaffed and consequently focused on task based, rather than person based care, the dignity and care of older patients can be severely jeopardised.
"Older people have repeatedly told us that more support should be provided for personal care in hospital and that nurses should be enabled to spend more time caring for patients.
"Staff time is at a premium, but treating people with dignity and being properly attentive to their care is a vital part of their treatment, rehabilitation and eventual discharge.
"Frontline staffing levels must be protected to ensure that the failings in standards of basic care in some hospitals are addressed as a matter of urgency."