Up to one in four mental health nurse posts vacant

One in four mental health nursing posts in London is vacant, pointing to a ‘deepening postcode lottery’ of care, according to the RCN.

The college’s analysis of vacancy rates in the field follows the announcement by prime minister Theresa May last week of an urgent review of mental health services.

The figures, first published in the Sunday Times, show almost one in five mental health nursing posts in the south east (excluding London) are vacant (17.4% or 1,688).

London has the highest rate, at 25.7% (2,569 vacancies), while the north east has the lowest, at 8.1% (776 empty posts).

The figures offer a regional breakdown of England’s previously reported 10,000 mental health vacancies (see table).

A third of mental health nurses told the RCN their last shift was short of the staff required to provide safe care, and a quarter of the nurses were from agencies.

Rise in detention

As the prime minister’s review prepares to look at detention in mental health, figures from NHS Digital have revealed these rates continue to rise.

One whistleblower from a mental health unit told the RCN: ‘In a mental health unit where patients are [detained] under the Mental Health Act, patients frequently go several days without being able to leave the hospital due to poor staffing levels. This frustrates the patients and leads to an increase in incidents of aggression and violence.’

RCN general secretary Janet Davies said: ‘When an individual is detained, the NHS has a duty to keep them safe. But the government presided over a collapse in nurse levels at the same time as detention rates soared.

‘The chronic shortage of nurses means the most vulnerable are being failed and a postcode lottery is deepening. Overstretched nurses cannot cope with greater numbers of people who, at times, can become aggressive or violent.’

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