Over half of London’s nurses want to leave

A Royal College of Nursing survey has revealed that more than half of London’s nurses want to leave the profession due to spiraling living costs.

One in ten nurses stating that the cost of accommodation is taking up more of their income than five years ago, and one in four are struggling and increasingly worried about their finances.

The 2019 survey of the capital’s nursing staff, titled Living in the Red: the cost of living crisis for London’s nursing workforce, outlines how London’s notoriously high cost of living is hitting the pockets of nurses, causing hardship and forcing increasing numbers to consider leaving their nursing jobs in the city.

A record 10,550 nursing posts are now unfilled in the capital, with RCN London stressing that the numbers worsening year on year with vacancy rates in London consistently higher than any other part of the country. In fact, 57 per cent of nurses in London say they would like to leave the city with the cost of accommodation and transport being a major contributing factor.

Mark Farmer, the RCN’s regional operations manager, said: “Nursing staff point to the extortionate cost of accommodation and transport as the two single biggest squeezes on their pockets, causing them to rely on expensive credit to meet everyday expenses, fall into arrears and worry more and more about their finances. In this situation, it is little wonder that increasing numbers are looking to leave London.

“Nurses are fundamental to the health and success of any city, and where there are shortages patient care suffers. With London’s NHS still having the highest number of nurse vacancies in England, the connection between the staffing crisis and the city’s cost of living cannot be ignored any longer.”