Nurses 'drowning in sea of paperwork'
The amount of paperwork is increasing, nurses say
Nurses
are "drowning in a sea of paperwork" with more than one sixth of the
working week taken up doing non-essential paperwork, a survey suggests.
The Royal College of Nursing poll of 6,000 nurses found 17.3%
of their hours were spent on tasks such as filing, photocopying and
ordering supplies.Most reported the amount of paperwork was getting worse and was now stopping them providing direct patient care.
The government has said it wants to reduce bureaucracy by a third.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has already announced a review of bureaucracy, which is being carried out by the NHS Confederation and is due to report back in the coming months.
The union said its survey showed a culture of "ticking boxes" had developed.
The survey, which is being released on the eve of the start of the RCN's annual conference on Monday, also found more than a quarter of nurses said their workplace did not have a ward clerk or administrative assistant to help with clerical duties.
RCN general secretary Peter Carter said: "These figures prove what a shocking amount of a nurse's time is being wasted on unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy.
"Yes, some paperwork is essential and nurses will continue to do this, but patients want their nurses by their bedside, not ticking boxes."
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