Nursing staff stretched to breaking point

Nearly three out of four nurses say they feel financially worse off than they did five years ago, while almost a quarter have had to take on another job simply to make ends meet.

A Royal College of Nursing (RCN) survey revealed that of the participants, 70 per cent reported feeling they were in a worse financial place than they were in five years ago, while 24 per cent say they are thinking of leaving their job due to money worries.

The percentage of respondents who say they are looking for a new job has also increased from 24 per cent ten years ago to 37 per cent today.

And 61 per cent say their job band or grade is inappropriate for the work they do - a significant rise from 2015 when only 39 per cent said this was the case.

Consequently, nursing staff are now less likely than at any point in the last 10 years to say they would recommend nursing was a career to others.

Janet Davies, chief executive, RCN, said: “The shocking findings we’re highlighting today demonstrate just how severe the financial pressure on nursing staff has now become.

“It is ludicrous that the health service is losing valuable highly-trained staff simply because they can’t pay the bills at the end of the month.

“The Safe Staffing report we published in September laid bare the terrible impact nursing shortages are having on patients; today’s survey findings, in contrast, show how badly nurses themselves are suffering from the continued underfunding of the health service.

“The Chancellor must therefore give a clear signal in the Budget next week that the government will award an above-inflation pay rise to hard-pressed nursing staff in the NHS.”