THEY dedicate their lives to helping people in despair and urgent need of help.
But nurses, therapists and clinicians are being pushed to the brink, working through their breaks and way beyond the end of their shifts, by ever-increasing workloads.
District nurses and health visitors are trying to help more than 400 families each, sometimes double the recommended 250 cases.
Podiatrists are hampered by severe staff shortages, forcing patients to wait about 18 months for treatment.
And while every patient in need of urgent care should be seen in four hours to prevent them being admitted to hospital, just 45 per cent of patients in Bridlington and fewer than 55 per cent of patients in North Holderness are being seen within the target time.
The pressure on the 2,800 staff working for Humber NHS Foundation Trust is exposed in 14 reports by inspectors working for the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
In every report, inspectors praise the care and compassion shown by staff providing community and mental health care, while patients praise their carers for the "dignity and respect" given.
But staff offering community care, helping people suffering depression and caring for young people in emotional distress, are being pushed to the brink by crippling workloads and fears about their jobs.
Now, health union Unison is calling for immediate action to recruit more staff to ease the burden.
Ray Gray, of Unison, said: "The NHS is being stretched to the limit and can't function like this for much longer.
"Managers are expecting too much from staff and the only answer is to put more money into the service to recruit more staff.
"But we are seeing problems with recruitment, forcing trusts to look overseas to fill vacancies.
"People just don't want to work for the NHS any more because of the pressures they will be facing."
In its report on community-based services for people experiencing psychosis, severe chronic depression, anxiety and personality disorders, and for children over 14 with psychosis, up to 120 people are on waiting lists.
Inspectors said: "Staff told us that they had high caseloads and that it was difficult meeting demand."
While praising good leadership and support, inspectors said: "An increase in referrals had led to long waiting times as the community teams did not have enough staff to cope with demand."
In caring for people aged 65 and over who have depression, anxiety or dementia, community nurses and support workers visiting patients at home and in residential care were "motivated and enthusiastic" and praised for their care.
But inspectors said: "Local leadership was good. However, some staff were unclear about the trust's vision and strategy, which left them worried about their future."
The specialist service for children under 18 with emotional or mental health difficulties was also criticised by inspectors.
Known as CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), the service recently introduced Contact Point for self-referral and has seen 607 calls for help since May, resulting in long waiting times for treatment – including one patient forced to wait 26 weeks.
Inspectors were also critical of the out-of- hours care offered to young people experiencing a mental health crisis.
In their report, inspectors said the new system had "unsettled" staff, adding: "There were long waiting lists and staff told us they were struggling to cope with the increased demands for CAMHS.
"Staff felt anxious about their workload and the growing waiting list."
However, it praised the treatment children received when they were eventually seen.
"Children and young people, their families and carers told us that CAMHS made a difference once they were allocated a worker," inspectors said.
Inspectors were also quick to praise the trust and its staff for excellent service in many of its fields. Community health staff working with dying patients were praised for their "dignity, compassion and respect".
Staff at Miranda House in Hull were praised for keeping patients safe and assessing them quickly.
In its report into rehabilitation services, inspectors said: "We found the care that staff provided to be outstanding."
Staff working with people with histories of alcohol and drug misuse was also commended by CQC inspectors.
They said: "There was a high standard of individual-centred care, which was assessed, planned and delivered individually.
"There was an emphasis on recovery and staff were passionate about what they did."
Community hospitals in Beverley and Withernsea were also given glowing reports.
"Staff on the community inpatient wards at East Riding and Withernsea Community Hospitals were dedicated to providing a high- quality service to patients," they said.
"Patients and their relatives were all positive about the care they or their relative received."
But the biggest concern remains the pressure facing staff in the report into community health services.
Inspectors found one district nurse was visiting up to 20 patients a day, while another was struggling to care for 100 patients spread over five different GP practices.
Two cardiac nurses were also having to care for 106 patients between them, working through lunch hours and finishing late just so they could get to everyone.
On the evening of their visit, inspectors discovered only two of the four out-of-hours teams who were supposed to be on duty between 5.30pm and 11pm actually were, because of staff shortages.
The trust told inspectors it has secured temporary funding to create 20 community nursing posts.
Physiotherapy and podiatry were also "regularly understaffed and not meeting capacity and demand", but were praised for the work they did for patients.
School nurses and health visitors were also being hampered by high caseloads.
"Staff told us they worked 'on the hoof' due to their work pressure," the inspectors said.
"We spoke with staff across services who were upset at their workload and lack of support from some managers within the service. We had significant concerns about the service."
'Privilege to work with team'THE boss of Humber NHS Foundation Trust has accepted the findings of the CQC inspectors.
Chief executive David Hill said recruitment drives were under way to employ more staff to ease the burden on the workforce.
He said: "We are putting in extra capacity to support nurses so we can take some of the pressure off them to help them do their jobs more effectively.
"The reality is there is difficulty in recruiting nurses in some areas. Those are the facts of life.
"Our priority is to work as hard as we can to demonstrate to nurses and doctors that Hull and the East Riding are places they want to come and work."
Mr Hill paid tribute to trust staff who were giving so much to the NHS.
"I am really pleased our patients tell us our staff provide really effective care," he said.
"Our staff are the most fantastic group of people and they have stories about their passion, commitment and motivation that can move you to tears.
"And they come back and do that day after day after day.
"It is a real privilege to work with that team of people."
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