4-mile daily hike of skint medic Dani

DISTRICT nurse Danielle Tiplady can’t even afford to run a car to visit her patients.

Instead she covers up to four miles every day on foot carrying a heavy backpack of medical supplies.

The 30-year-old is conscientious but understandably feels overworked and underpaid.

Danielle, who earns around £21,000 plus a £4,000 London allowance, said: “I can afford my rent, bills and food on my pay, but that’s it. I definitely couldn’t run a car.

“I’ve got a friend who’s a nurse who lives on baked beans just so she can pay her mortgage. I became a nurse because I love helping people. The job is a privilege for me.

LOANS

“I don’t want to be rich, otherwise I would have become a banker, but I do want a fair wage.

“And something has gone seriously wrong when you hear of NHS nurses getting payday loans and pawning possessions, just to get by.”

She said staffing shortages were also a huge problem, with patients as well as nurses paying the price.

On average, Danielle visits 13 patients every day and sometimes only has 10 minutes with each one.

She added: “When you have such a big workload, it is hard to always be on time for patients and they are suffering as a result.

“It’s a real problem at the moment in district nursing that terminally-ill patients are not getting their pain relief on time.

“Something has to change.”