Patients suffering 'brain bleeds and broken bones' due to nurse shortages, Royal College of Nursing report warns

From the Newshound archive · first published 22 September 2026.

Delays in receiving pain relief, falls from hospital beds and avoidable deterioration in patient conditions are among the consequences of NHS wards operating without adequate numbers of registered nurses, a new Royal College of Nursing report has found. Some hospitals are recording patient safety incidents running into the hundreds every month, with missed medication, delayed treatment and unwitnessed falls becoming commonplace on understaffed wards. England currently has around 23,000 nursing vacancies, though the RCN cautions that the real shortfall is larger still, as frozen and unfunded posts are not included in that figure.

One nurse said her unit went without a 'green' — fully staffed — shift for more than six months.

A patient who fell from a bed suffered a brain bleed and it took seven days for staff to realise she also had a broken hip.

Nurse numbers have risen 33% since 2009, but doctor numbers grew at nearly double that rate — 60%.