REC: Nurses are burdened with paperwork

More clerical support is needed to help medical professionals in the NHS provide a better quality service, it has been claimed.

Chair of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation's (REC) Nursing and Social Care Sector Group, Peter Cullimore, has called for increased administrative support for nurses, who are currently hampered by large amounts of paperwork.

Nurses will be able to spend more time with their patients if they have more help from clerical staff, he said.

'With the Government increasingly focusing on patient feedback and on front-line delivery of healthcare services, it is crucial to address potential barriers such as excessive administrative duties for clinical staff,' he remarked.

Mr Cullimore is in agreement with the results of a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) survey released last week.

The research concluded that more clerical staff are needed in the NHS as well as warning that many specialist nurses could be at risk from losing their jobs in the near future.