Nurses across Bucks need more support during cost-of-living crisis
Nurses say there is "more demand for healthcare than the resources"
The NHS have launched its annual nationwide drive to recruit more nurses across England and say the cost-of-living crisis could affect the retention and recruitment of nurses.
Nurses say the cost-of-living crisis could affect the success of their campaign particularly in "careers that don't require registration." Therefore, nurses around Buckinghamshire are being offered support through this time.
The ‘We are the NHS’ campaign is designed to show the variety of nursing roles available and nurses are eager to encourage people to take on this "rewarding career".
"People's health needs more care than we have supply of"
We spoke to Tina Charlton, Deputy Chief Nurse at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust who has been a nurse for 40 years and has enjoyed her "incredible years in nursing"
she told us "We clearly have in Buckinghamshire more demand for healthcare than the resources to meet that demand. People's health needs more care than we have supply of."
"We haven't seen a huge amount of change locally"
"We haven't seen a huge amount of change locally as a result of the campaign...but we are doing some things during this period, for example open days on the 5th and 12th November""
Will the cost-of-living crisis affect the recruitment of nurses?
"I think there are many factors that are always working in the recruitment and retention of nurses, and I think the cost-of-living crisis could have a contributing factor particularly for careers that don't require registration"
What support is available to support nurses?
"We've got a fantastic package here for helping staff for example we've launched a £1 meal which is available here at Stoke Mandeville hospital...we've got arrangements around crisis loans; we've got all sorts of pf things here to support staff"