Pub jobs for nurses ‘ frozen out’ by NHS

NEWLY- qualified nurses are having to work in pubs and supermarkets because they can’t find jobs in the NHS.

They are being frozen out by hospitals and health trusts that are in so much debt they can’t afford to hire staff, says the Royal College of Nursing.

The current financial crisis, with hospitals facing a reported deficit of £500million this year, means many have stopped recruiting altogether, it is claimed. Despite shortages of NHS staff and increasing use of agency workers, some newly- qualified nurses are having to do other jobs to make a living.

After three years of study, nursing graduates across Britain are taking work in supermarkets and pubs, says the Nursing Standard magazine. The RCN found hotspots where new nurses are having trouble getting a job in Birmingham, Coventry, Sheffield, Surrey and Durham, as well as Scotland and Wales. A university in Hampshire has already told nursing students not to expect any jobs in the NHS. Gill Robertson, an RCN student adviser, said: ‘This is a new problem relating to trust deficits and it’s very worrying.

‘ Every year you hear of glitches, say where 20 midwives can’t get jobs, but this is very, very different. There is nowhere for them to get jobs.

‘ It’s difficult to track this problem because trusts are not parting with information and they are also masking the problem by giving nurses parttime contracts.

‘ The other problem is that overseas nurses are stuck in bottom grades and not being promoted – and this is blocking the path for newly- qualified nurses.’