Nurses' union launches attack on 'uncosted' NHS reforms

More than 22,000 jobs have been lost in the NHS in the past 18 months, said the Royal College of Nursing.

The RCN said it hoped to expose the myth that the NHS funding crisis had been solved as it prepared for its annual conference in Harrogate today.

In a report called Our NHS: Today and Tomorrow, the union said three-quarters of newly qualified nurses were unable to find jobs. It also condemned "rushed, uncosted and untested" government reforms and outlined how NHS cuts had affected patient services, including for those with mental health problems.

The financial crisis had hit waiting times, it added, particularly for diagnostic tests, and had led to the closure of community hospitals in rural areas.

A survey of specialist nurses in the report found 7 per cent believed NHS cuts were having an adverse effect on patient care and 55 per cent were aware of colleagues at risk of losing their jobs.

But Andy Burnham, the health minister, said the RCN's figures presented an "outdated and misleading picture" of the NHS.

The RCN said it had not invited any politicians to this year's conference. Last year at the conference, Patricia Hewitt, the Secretary of State for Health, had her speech drowned out by jeering nurses.