The Royal College of Nursing e mailed 100,000 nurses about working conditions. Only around 2% responded, some of whom said they missed meal times and breaks, and most that they were working extra hours.
It's more likely hospital inpatients are malnourished than staff. They have increased nutritional requirements (sepsis, burns, surgery), losses (malabsorption), decreased intake (nausea, difficulty swallowing), and many other causes including unappetising food (due to budget restrictions).
Joebloggs's wife - a doctor - should not be working a 68 hour week. The European Working Time Directive applied a 48 hour working week to all doctors from August last year. Obviously it's not good for anyone to work excessive hours. But it's not that simple. The Royal College of Surgeons claims the Directive means insufficient training time for surgeons, compromising patient safety. Many trainees and consultants in fact still work over the permitted hours, whether or not they have an "opt-out" clause with their employers. Other European countries ignore the Directive. An optimum working week - for health care workers and the patients they treat - would be less than joebloggs' wife works, but more than 48 hours. The Royal College of Surgeons has suggested 65 hours.
More doctors and nurses are also needed. It's to be hoped that Andrew Lansley will listen, not only to the Royal Colleges but also the general tax-paying
public, before proceding with the proposed NHS "reforms".
