FORCED SHIFT WORKING FOR NURSES

That this House notes the publication of Stepping Stones, the annual employment survey commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing, which shows that nurses who are forced to work on a rotating pattern of day and night shifts are more likely than other nurses to want to leave the NHS; further notes that greater choice and control over working hours is a major factor in nurses remaining in the NHS, and that while 80 per cent. of nurses working flexi-time are satisfied with their shift patterns, those working internal rotation are the most unhappy; and joins the Royal College of Nursing in calling for employers, in partnership with staff, to urgently review arrangements for determining shift patterns, to avoid compulsory shift systems, and to make flexible working patterns available to all staff.