'SHATTERED' nurses at Inverclyde Royal are going home in tears after their shifts amid a serious staffing crisis at the hospital, the Telegraph has been told.

Whistleblowers yesterday described the current situation — which has seen acute medical wards reduced to having just one nurse on duty — as 'hell on earth' and 'unbearable'.

The hospital sources also hit out at health board chiefs who said they 'welcome all feedback', branding the comment 'shocking' because staffing issues are being 'constantly reported' on an in-house computer system.

One insider told how nurses use an electronic log called Datix to flag up issues, and claimed that bosses have told them that nothing can be done about the lack of nurses at IRH.

The source — speaking on condition of anonymity — said: "They say to us, 'What can we do to help, but just don't say staffing because that's something we can't do'.

"The situation is absolutely dire and it really is dangerous.

"We constantly report things and they are logged, but this is also to cover ourselves in case something goes wrong and so we have it recorded that we said the ward was unsafely staffed."

Another source added: "Some have stopped doing it now because we are so short staffed and there's just no time.

"We've also been told that if we had the time to use Datix then we couldn't have been that busy.

"There's such an emphasis on completing paperwork over patient care.

"Audits have actually been carried out on paperwork when there's just two nurses on duty."

We revealed last week how acute medical wards G North and G South have been left with just one nurse on duty on multiple occasions.

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde admitted that this was the situation twice last month.

However, following a further query by the Telegraph the health board has found that it has occurred three times.

In the wake of our revelations, long-time IRH campaigner and newly-elected councillor Martin McCluskey — a member of NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde board — vowed to raise the staffing crisis at his first meeting with board colleagues.

Inverclyde MSP Stuart McMillan said he was 'appalled' and has demanded an 'urgent meeting' with IRH management.

A hospital source said: "Two nurses is deemed as a safe number and three is the ideal number.

"There is no scope for anyone to phone in sick.

"It is us who are left to plug the gaps in any way we can, not management.

"I know there has been at least one time when a nurse on annual leave has been phoned and asked to come in to help us out of a hole."

A separate hospital insider said: "Nurses are so busy and so stressed that it is difficult to even get a round of medication for patients done, then they often have to face abuse or challenge from family members because their loved one's pyjamas have not been changed.

"Nurses are returning home crying after their shifts.

"They are shattered."

NHS GGC yesterday re-stated that patient safety and care and staff wellbeing is an 'absolute priority'.

In a statement, the board added: "We fully understand the significant pressures faced by our teams and we are sorry if any have been negatively impacted by the challenges.

"After close examination of our records, we can confirm that there were three occasions where one ward was covered by one registered nurse, supported by a multi-disciplinary team.

"This was due to unplanned staff absence."

The health board says 39 nurses and 77 health care support workers were recruited to IRH between January and May this year, with 20 more nurses having accepted offers of employment.

Its statement continued: "We are continuing our efforts to further recruit colleagues to vacant posts, including virtual open days and 'meet the team events', which we hope will relieve some of the current pressures colleagues are facing.

"We hope that staff and our partnership colleagues will recognise these efforts and assist us in promoting IRH as a good place to start or continue a nursing career.

"Our practice development team has been increased to provide further support to newly qualified nurses and additional admin support has been recruited to support some tasks such as answering phones, and booking ambulances, which releases nursing time for clinical care.

"Across our services, our priority is to ensure there are no gaps in staffing levels due to unplanned leave or vacancies.

"We are aware of the issues these challenges present and would encourage any member of staff who has concerns regarding breaks, staffing or their mental wellbeing to come to us so that we can continue to support them."