‘Catastrophic’ if predicted third of NHS staff in London off work by New Year
The IndependentGet the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Figures suggesting that one in three NHS staff in London could be off work by New Year’s Eve have been branded “catastrophic” by a nursing leader. It doesn't look like there's an end in sight Patricia Marquis, Royal College of Nursing The HSJ said internal NHS monitoring figures seen by the journal showed that the number of healthcare staff in the capital absent due to Covid-19 had more than doubled in four days. She told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend: “The workforce is already short, the workforce is already exhausted – mentally and physically – so the prospect of that just must fill everybody on the frontline, and the public, with real concern, because the NHS just has to be able to cope with emergency and urgent care in order for the public to feel safe.” She said staff were exhausted and the “prospect of not knowing what is happening just adds an extra layer of concern for people”. “In the current situation it doesn’t look like there’s an end in sight and that makes the situation sometimes feel even more hopeless than it might actually be.” Chris Hopson chief executive of NHS Providers, said pressure on London trusts, including hospitals, community mental health and ambulance trusts, had been “mounting rapidly” in the past week.