Mike Farrar, NHS Confederation chief executive, said:

"We fully recognise the story that the RCN's survey tells. It is entirely consistent with the picture that has emerged during the first phase of our work on tackling the burden of bureaucracy in the NHS.

"More than four out of 10 NHS clinicians, managers and board members have told us they spend between one and three hours of their working day personally collecting and recording information. Three-quarters told us certain information collected for regulators or for national requirements is irrelevant.

"It is clear we need to do more to free staff from the shackles of unnecessary form filling and create more time to spend on patient care. We need a smarter system of information use, not a bigger one. And we need to embrace technology that helps rather than hinders staff, moving away from the paper-based archaic NHS.

"The NHS has tolerated far more information being demanded from it than necessarily serves its purpose. This must change.

"Much of the problem at the moment lies in the fact that there are often multiple requests for information which isn't always shared between departments, organisations and regulators. This information needs to be streamlined so it is properly shared with patients and the public to help inform the decisions they make about their care, and across NHS organisations and the wider health system to look at how we can improve the care we deliver.

"We are currently undertaking a major piece of work looking at how we can cut bureaucracy by a third in the NHS. Over the coming months, we will be talking to staff, patients and national bodies about how best to tackle the problem. These views will be integral to helping us identify what bits of bureaucracy are slowing staff down and how we can deliver significant improvements rather than just tinkering around the edges.

"We will report our findings and recommendations in September."

Notes to Editors