Survey highlights clinical negligence risk from nurses’ lack of training

Posted 30/03/2010

NHS patients could be put at risk of clinical negligence because nurses are not receiving the training they need.

This is the suggestion of a new poll carried out by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which showed that almost a third of nurses have not been able to access essential courses to help them deal with healthcare situations such as superbugs.

Furthermore, 33.8 per cent said they have paid for their own training in the past in order to avoid missing out, while only 55.8 per cent could say they felt completely up-to-date with their development.

This was blamed on a lack of available cover.

RCN representative Janet Davies said: “Nurses are carrying out more and more tasks, but we can see they are starting to be hit by a double whammy – staff shortages and a lack of training.”

It was recently reported by Civitas that the NHS has accrued £10 million worth of debt, which could result in cutbacks as trusts attempt to claw money back.

Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp, the solicitor who heads the Ashtons Legal medical injury team, is also a former nurse. She added: “This is a sad but inevitable consequence of the change to nurse training which has seen it move from a practical course to a degree-based qualification.

“This means more resources are needed to top up practical training for nurses post-qualification. Anyone who has been in hospital recently will be aware that much of the care is carried out by healthcare assistants who have comparatively little training, whilst staff nurses seem more involved with management.

“It is vital that practical nursing skills are updated to ensure patient safety and to minimise risks of complications post for example surgery. Cutting back on this is a false economy. It would be good to see a return to hands-on nursing for those qualified to give it and for their training needs to be met in full.”