A new research by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) claims that 26,000 nursing jobs at NHS have been laid off over the last two years, with a further 35,000 set to go in the future.

The study involving 2,600 community nurses, who were provided with a questionnaire, found that only one in 10 said they had enough time to meet patient needs. Nine out of 10 community nurses reportedly said that their case-load had increased over the last 12 months.

The findings also suggested that 21% of the community nurses said they saw patients being seen in corridors at least once a day. Almost half of the nurses admitted to witnessing patients who had to endure long wait for their turns on trolleys in the past six months.

The research shows that sacking of these jobs will see patients running around hospitals as the ratio of nurses to patients in the hospitals will affect the rehabilitation services that they would be able to offer.

Dr Peter Carter, General Secretary of the RCN, said, “ Community nurses were facing the impossible challenge of coping greater workloads with less resources.”

“This is a harsh reminder that both acute and community care are overloaded and the staffing levels are so low in both that there can be nowhere for patients to turn”, he added.

The RCN revealed that planned job cuts were more than 400 in Greater Glasgow, Clyde, Sandwell and West Birmingham, and 675 in Blackpool. There is a planned 23% reduction in staffing numbers in South London up to 2015.

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