Nurses at Perth Royal Infirmary are living in fear that “someone will die on their watch” as NHS Tayside admits there are gaps in the workforce.
A source said staff are “working themselves to exhaustion” trying to tend to patients with their limited workforce, leading to burnout.
They also revealed that staff are worried that someone will end up “seriously hurt” due to not being able to provide a good level of care.
They said: “Staff can’t get to patients to help them go to the toilet in time, or answer their buzzers, help them heal, help them with washing or just be free for a reassuring chat.
“Relatives are being left to wait for unacceptable amounts of time to speak to staff because there are just not enough of us to go around.
“It’s not fair on them or the patients.
“Staff feel like they are letting their patients and their families down.”
Staff ‘tired and overworked’ at Perth Royal Infirmary
The source added: “They experience an impending feeling of doom coming into work because they know they are short-staffed and nothing changes.
“They are trying to stay afloat and it’s not because they are not trying, they are tired and overworked.
“Looking after up to 10 unwell patients every shift is exhausting and unsafe.
“They came into nursing to look after people – far from what they are actually able to do currently.”
The source said concerns have been raised to senior managers at Ninewells Hospital about the “unsafe” staffing situation at PRI.
“Staff want support”, they said.
“They want the managers in charge of NHS Tayside to listen. They want them to visit PRI and see how unsafe it is with their own eyes.
“Staff have not had a nurse director come to PRI in months.
“They need them to come and visit the wards, speak to the staff they avoid and to hear their voices and how their decisions are putting patients at risk and crushing the staff.”
Sickness, vacancies and maternity leave blamed
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said, “We have recently been made aware of concerns relating to gaps in our nursing workforce at Perth Royal Infirmary due to a combination of unplanned sickness absence, vacancies and maternity leave.
“The senior leadership team is working with the staff at Perth Royal Infirmary to mitigate any gaps and support the workforce to deliver high quality, patient-centred care.”
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