MORE than half of nurses think their ward or unit is dangerously understaffed, a Nursing Times survey has revealed.

Nearly six out of 10 (57 per cent) described their ward as sometimes or always "dangerously understaffed", the research showed.

More than three quarters (76 per cent) said they had witnessed "poor" care in their ward or unit over the past year - of which nearly 30 per cent said they see poor care regularly.

Ahead of the publication of the public inquiry report into deaths at Mid Staffordshire Hospital, the magazine polled 600 of its readers across a range of issues including staffing, patient safety and NHS culture.

A majority of respondents said the ratio of patients to each nurse at their hospitals could compromise patient care.

More than eight out of 10 respondents said staffing on general medical wards in an acute hospital was at a ratio of eight patients to one nurse, or more.

And of these nearly half (44 per cent) said the ratio was 10 or more patients per nurse.

A ratio of eight or more patients per registered nurse is associated with patient care on a ward regularly being compromised by short staffing, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

In addition, nearly half (43 per cent) of those who worked on general medical wards said the ratio of registered nurses to unqualified healthcare assistants was either 50:50 or worse, similar to ratios at Stafford Hospital, part of the Mid Staffs trust.

The RCN recommends a ratio of 65 per cent registered nurses to 35 per cent non-registered nursing staff.

The inquiry into the Mid Staffs trust was commissioned in 2010 after a separate highly critical report by the Healthcare Commission the previous year revealed a catalogue of failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and said "appalling standards" put patients at risk.

Between 400 and 1,200 more people died than would have been expected in a three-year period from 2005 to 2008, the commission said.

In February 2010, an independent inquiry into events at the trust found it had "routinely neglected patients".

Asked whether they thought there were more "Mid Staffs" out there, nearly half (46 per cent) of survey respondents said they thought there were many trusts failing like Mid Staffs and 38 per cent that there were a small number of trusts failing like Mid Staffs.

Meanwhile, around a third were not confident they could rule out a similar situation to that which occurred at Mid Staffs happening at their trust.

More specifically, 23 per cent said they were "at risk" of a similar situation occurring at their trust and 12 per cent that it was already happening at their trust - either in isolated parts of the organisation or across it.

A Department of Health spokesman said: "There are more clinical staff working in the NHS now than there were in May 2010, and nearly 2,500 new nurses started working in the NHS in October 2012 alone.

“Hospitals are in charge of setting staffing levels but nursing leaders have been clear that they should publish staffing details and the evidence to show the numbers are right and safe for the services they deliver."