UK calls for minimum staffing levels and fewer health assistants

The care of the elderly is being compromised in UK hospitals because there are too few nurses, says the Royal College of Nursing. Research by the RCN suggested everything from basic communication to care for the dying was suffering, BBC News reports. The college said it was now time to insist on strict staffing levels and stop relying on healthcare assistants to fill the gaps. It polled nearly 1700 nurses - 240 of whom were working on wards with older patients. The survey showed that while older people's wards only had one nurse for every nine patients on average, general wards, at 6.7...