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Nurses’ morale is at rock bottom with nearly two thirds saying they wish they could quit and take a job outside the NHS, an exclusive Sunday Mirror poll reveals today.

Our survey of almost 6,000 lifesavers is a damning indictment of David Cameron’s stewardship with just FOUR PER CENT saying he is doing a good job.

Even more alarmingly, 72 per cent say they are unable to spend enough time with patients to offer a safe level of care.

The study shows the Health Service has a staffing timebomb, with thousands of nurses looking for a way out after years of savage Tory cuts.

Janet Davies, Royal College of Nursing executive director, described the results of our survey – the largest ever of NHS workers – as deeply alarming.

The shocking findings from the poll, carried out with Nursing Standard ­magazine, include:

50 per cent of nurses felt that there had not been not enough cover to provide safe levels of care for the patients they had been tending on their last shift.

54 per cent of nurses say the standard of care has diminished since Mr Cameron took charge of the country while 40 per cent say it has remained the same. Only four per cent believe care has improved.

73 per cent say work conditions have got worse since 2010. Only five per cent have noticed improvements.

60 per cent of nurses describe morale in their profession as poor or very poor – and 29 per cent rate it just OK.

Nurses are also furious about their low wages which have been effectively frozen for the past four years.

Eighty-three per cent of those surveyed believe their pay does not reflect their contribution and 57 per cent of them would take a better paid job outside nursing if it were offered them.

The survey findings represent a huge blow to Mr Cameron and his advisers who are about to crank up campaigning for next year’s General Election when the NHS will be a prime topic.

Percentage of nurses polled who felt they were unable to spend enough time with patients to offer a safe level of care 72% Sunday Mirror/Nursing Standard poll

More than 4,000 nursing posts – including experienced ward sisters and specialist nurses – have been lost since the Coalition came to power in 2010.

Even though the Government has promised 6,300 new nurses, the NHS has been forced to make staff cuts to meet £20 billion savings ordered by ministers.

Nursing Standard editor Graham Scott said nurses would punish the Tories in next May’s vote and blasted the Coalition’s waste of billions on NHS ­reorganisation.

He says: “Unbelievably, an eye-watering £1.6 billion has been spent on redundancy payments, only for ­thousands of the same senior managers to be re-hired in similar roles.”

The findings shows that nurses are still dedicated to the cause with the majority reporting that they regularly work over their contracted hours.

The survey found 55 per cent saying it was a regular practice and 29 per cent always going over time.

Standard of care since David Cameron came to power Sunday Mirror/Nursing Standard poll

Nurses think their reputation has taken a hit over the past decade with 77 per cent believing the public’s perception of them has got worse. Just 20 per cent said it was the same while three per cent claimed an improvement.

Janet Davies of the Royal College of Nursing said of the survey’s findings: “This is yet more evidence that the morale of the nursing workforce is at rock bottom. Nursing staff are the backbone of health care, but it seems like the Government does not value them or the work they do.”

She added: “Nurses are overstretched and underappreciated. Their working conditions are getting worse, with some being put on lower grades, and many say they don’t have enough time to spend with their patients.

“The implications for the health service are serious.

“NHS trusts across the UK are already struggling to recruit enough nurses to provide high quality patient care and an exodus of nursing staff away from the profession would be bad for patients and bad for the country.”

"Rising stress levels pushed us to breaking point"

Disillusioned Andrew Whitfield has quit nursing after years of increasing pressure.

Andrew, who has 29 years’ experience, said: “Nurses are having to work extra hard to cope with increasing demands.

“That puts extra pressure on them and stress-related problems are common. Absenteeism is on the rise.”

Andrew, 51, who worked for an out-of-hours GP service in Sheffield, added: “The pressure was always on to see a high number of patients in a short time and if your consultation time is longer you are pulled up.

“Most nurses will work harder and longer because they don’t want patients to suffer but they can be pushed only so far.”

A&E nurse Pamela Lake says cuts and targets are having an equally corrosive effect in hospitals.

“We have a four-hour target to get everyone through A&E,” said Pamela, 47, who has been in the profession for 20 years.

“If we go over, the Trust gets fined and staff are put under pressure, which is not what you need for a good service.

“It is very frustrating but I wouldn’t swap this job for the world. Nurses are dedicated and do a great job under very difficult circumstances so it is about time the Government recognised and rewarded that.”

Pamela, from Birmingham, added: “I’ve not had a pay rise for four years and it is difficult to make ends meet.

“It gets very annoying when you see politicians’ pay rises and them being driven around in chauffeur-driven cars while we’re still standing at the bus stop at 11pm after a shift.”

(Image: Getty)

What nurses had to say about their daily working lives

"I’ve taken out loans, sold gold and sold other items and used credit cards."

"I’m now part of a payment plan due to financial hardships."

"Luckily I am not the only wage provider...we would be in a financial mess if I was the main provider."

"I live with my son to reduce costs."

"I am borrowing from friends and family and I have loans that are beyond serviceable. I always operate from minus within a day of getting paid."

"I’ve cut back on all non- essentials, I won’t be able to retire, or I will be in poverty."

"I have become more thrifty but cannot save any money.’ ‘I’ve used savings from my inheritance."

"I manage my salary well as I do not go out and I do not go on holidays."

David Cameron's electoral own goal 1,000-plus

"Cameron will be made to pay at the ballot box" says Nursing Standard editor Graham Scott

The nation’s nurses have given their verdict on the Government’s record and it is damning.

They are deeply unhappy at the quality of care they are able to provide, disillusioned that their pay and conditions have been attacked so ruthlessly, and angry that ministers treat NHS staff so shabbily while shirking their own responsibility.

For many, morale reached rock bottom years ago. No wonder more than half would quit given the chance.

Nurses are thoroughly fed up with being taken for granted. They care for more patients than ever, and our survey shows almost all work many more than their contracted hours.

Yet ministers have shown their gratitude first by pegging rises at 1 per cent a year and now by denying them any cost of living pay award at all this year and next.

The Government has calculated that it can get away with being so mean because nurses will not walk out of the wards or refuse to visit patients in their homes.

Striking may be anathema to most healthcare professionals, but don’t rule out other forms of action – four unions representing hundreds of thousands of NHS staff are balloting their members.

Like a football manager who loses the dressing room, David Cameron lost the trust of nurses within months of entering Number 10.

Before polling day he stood in front of 2,000 nurses and promised no more top-down reorganisations.

In a breathtaking U-turn, his Government embarked on reforms that have already cost more than £1 billion.

Unbelievably, an eye-watering £1.6 billion has been spent on redundancy, only for thousands of the same senior managers to be re-hired in similar roles.

A bust-and-boom approach to workforce planning has made matters worse.

First there was a sharp fall in the number of nursing students, more recently a desperate scramble for new recruits.

This has led to NHS managers flying around the world to raid other countries’ hospitals when we should be growing our own staff.

Specialist nurse posts have been axed, with some replaced by less experienced staff and others not at all.

There are only eight months until the general election.

With more than 1,000 nurses in each constituency, Mr Cameron may yet regret treating this group of professionals with such disdain.