There are currently around 100,000 unfilled posts in England.
Nursing staff are fed up with poor pay, often feel burnt out and are looking to leave their roles, according to the most recent staff survey.
Published today, 648,594 NHS workers across 217 trusts and 63 additional organisations in England took part in the national NHS staff survey.
After around a decade of real-terms pay cuts, the survey found that just under half (43%) of NHS staff are unhappy with their currently level pay.
Just over a third (34%) of respondents admitted to often feeling burnt out due to the pressures of the job. The majority also said there were not enough in they organisation to be able to do their role properly.
A massive one in every three staff also admitted they often thought about leaving their organisation – a move that would only worsen the current workforce crisis.
The news comes on a backdrop of 100,000 unfilled vaccines across the NHS in England and the recent news that once again nursing staff face a real-terms pay cut.
Undermining safe and effective care.
One nurse told us she was unsurprised at the results, “Everyone I speak to at work is unhappy and looking for their way out of the profession. It is getting worse year on year”.
Unions have said they are unsurprised with the results and are urging ministers to take urgent action.
RCN Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “Nursing staff have sent a clear message they’re exhausted and that staff shortages are undermining their efforts to give safe and effective care.
“More than half who responded said they feel burnt out at the end of their working day and four out of five feel there aren’t enough staff in their organisation for them to do their job properly. This will do nothing to reassure the public.
“This is a stark reminder of the impact of tens of thousands of nursing vacancies. Today MPs can support a new law in the Commons which would require ministers to publish an assessment of how many nursing staff are needed to provide safe patient care.
“The government wants MPs to vote against these plans – we urge them to defy ministers and seize this vital opportunity.”
