NURSING IN CRISIS
MORE than 2,000 nurses have quit the health service in North Wales since 2013, “utterly shocking” new figures reveal.
The numbers leaving are greater than the number of new nurses being recruited as pressure on NHS services has never been greater.
A total of 2,218 nurses left Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, with 1,470 nurses brought in.
A Freedom of Information request revealed that 2015 – the same year the board went into special measures – saw the highest number quitting at 541. Over the same period 223 doctors left, with 232 being recruited.
Helen Whyley, from the Royal College of Nursing, called for more to be done to stem the loss of nurses.
She said: “It’s concerning to see a trend where more nurses are leaving an employer than joining. We acknowledge there is a current global shortage of nurses, however, NHS employers need to focus on both recruitment and retention.
“There needs to be a commitment to continued investment in more nursing staff and their careers. Our members tell us demand and pressure at work has spiralled upwards at the very moment their pay has gone the other way.”
She added: “The NHS will continue to lose qualified nursing staff unless it embraces the individual needs of nurses who want to work in the service.
“Betsi Cadwaladr must work harder if it wants to ensure it becomes the employer of choice.”
Plaid Cymru AM Llyr Gruffydd said: “These statistics are utterly shocking. I’ve championed greater recruitment of nurses for some time and this information highlights the real gap emerging between recruitment and retention.”
A health board spokesman said the figures were not a reflection of the hours worked by nursing staff, and they did not show the number of staff who had been trained to become nurses or the number of bank staff who have since joined the board.
He said: “We face the same challenges as other health boards and trusts across the UK in recruiting more nurses.”