Nurses bogged down by red tape

Published on Saturday 9 October 2010 12:20

NURSES in Scotland are "overloaded" with paperwork which is stopping them caring for patients, leaders of the profession have warned.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said evidence suggested administrative tasks take up two-thirds of nurses' time at work.

In a manifesto ahead of next year's Scottish elections, the organisation said the situation could get worse with planned cuts in the number of administrative staff in the NHS.

The RCN is calling for an urgent review of paperwork so that nurses can spend more time with patients. It also called for more action to protect and encourage whistleblowers reporting workplace problems, as well as ensuring the most vulnerable groups in society were not hit hardest by public sector cutbacks.

The Scottish Government said it wanted nurses to have as much time as possible to care directly for patients. The RCN said that while some clinical paperwork was necessary, far too much non-essential admin was being done by nurses.

The manifesto, which is being launched on Tuesday to influence the pre-election pledges of Scotland's political parties, said planned cuts in NHS back-room staff would have a negative impact on patient care.

"Nurses of all levels and from all areas of health and social care tell us that they are overloaded with paperwork and administrative tasks," the document says.

The RCN said a survey showed that 89 per cent of nurses in Scotland believed that non-essential paperwork had increased in the past five years. But they said clerical support was either non-existent in their workplace or had not kept up with demand.