Scotland facing risk of overcrowded wards

PUBLIC-SECTOR cuts could risk sending the health service in Scotland back to the days of overcrowded hospital wards without enough staff, the Royal College of Nursing has warned.

RCN chief executive Peter Carter will give a speech at the group's annual congress today outlining how cuts to services and staff are already becoming a reality.

In a new UK-wide survey of nurses in charge of hospital wards, 92 per cent said patient care was being compromised by short staffing at least several times a month, with nearly a third saying that it happened on most shifts.