Nurses in Wales working 34,284 hours a week overtime due to staff shortage
There are 1,719 nursing vacancies in the NHS in Wales alone
Last updated 23rd Nov 2021
Welsh NHS nurses are working an additional 34,284 hours in overtime, figures from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) show.
On Tuesday 23 November, RCN Wales published its annual report overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the nursing workforce in the country.
'The Nursing Workforce in Wales 2021' revealed that there are 1,719 nursing vacancies in the NHS in Wales alone, which has risen from 1,612 in 2020.
NHS Wales also had to spend £69.04m on agency nursing in 2019, which is equivalent to what would be the salary of 2,691 newly-qualified nurses.
The 34,284 hours spent per week working overtime by existing nurses also equates to 914 fulltime nurse roles.
Helen Whyley, Director of RCN Wales, said: “Nurses are overworked and under pressure, working many hours over their contracts to try and fill the gaps.
"They are under-resourced to deliver the high standard of care required by their patients and are not being rewarded with fair wages for the complex and safety critical role they do.
“RCN Wales recommends a number of measures the Welsh Government should take to address the shortage of registered nurses in the NHS and independent sector.
"Without a doubt, the top priority is to pay nurses a fair wage for their complex roles. Workforce shortages will not even start to be resolved until nurses are paid fairly.
If the Welsh Government is serious about quality patient care they need to consider our report and implement its recommendations.”