“The Health Secretary pledged to ‘deliver’ for the NHS but she’ll struggle to deliver anything unless she urgently addresses the staffing crisis. In the week 300,000 nursing staff are being asked to vote for strike action, her speech will do little to convince them the UK government has any understanding of the scale or impact of the problem.
“Years of real terms pay cuts have forced thousands to leave the profession. We know that record numbers of nurses left the NHS in the last year and two-thirds of those were under the age of 45, well before retirement. Constant staff shortages are a direct threat to patient safety.
“Ministers must ask themselves why record numbers are quitting a career they’ve loved. And, more importantly, tell us what their government will do about it. We need a fully-funded workforce plan in each part of the UK to increase the number of nurses.
“Governments must urgently give nursing staff a fair pay rise to retain experienced staff. Our biggest ever strike ballot opens this Thursday and we’ll be urging members to vote ‘yes’ to strike action. Enough is enough.”
Ends
