NHS bidding war adds to nurses’ value
AS LABOUR and the Conservatives look to outbid each other on the NHS it is clear that, regardless of who wins the general election, nurses and doctors should be in a strong bargaining position.
Over the weekend, Boris Johnson bound his party to ‘the largest cash settlement in NHS history’.
A key part of that is a promise to invest heavily in the health service’s ‘most important asset – its people’.
The Tory manifesto released on Sunday says there will be 50,000 more nurses, with students receiving a grant of up to £8,000 for every year of study.
It also promises 6,000 more GPs and 6,000 primary carers such as physiotherapists and pharmacists on top of a slew of nurse associates and other healthcare professionals.
The figures have already been heavily criticised – and there is an element of ‘creative accountancy’ at play – but the direction is clear.
Not to be outdone, Labour refuses to cede ground. It says that there are 100,000 staff vacancies across NHS England, including a shortage of 43,000 nurses.
Billions of pounds-worth of investment in the service are promised and ‘safe staffing limits for all staff’ will be law. As well as nursing bursaries, Labour vows to clear the way for ‘ethical international recruitment’, whatever that is.
No matter how many buckets of salt are added to this hodge-podge of manifesto pledges, the upshot is that whoever takes their seat as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 13 December will be tasked with a massive drive to improve nurse recruitment, training and retention.
Guernsey should take note. The Royles independent pay review panel found a deeply dispirited healthcare workforce. Just 12% of island nurses were satisfied with their pay, 22% felt valued and two out of five were looking to leave their jobs within a year.
The satisfaction difference with UK nurses was ‘stark’.
With the UK about to embark on a massive recruitment drive, the island must raise staff morale or risk losing a substantial part of its vital healthcare workforce.
If that fails, an island fishing in the same shallow pool of nursing and doctor candidates as the UK and Jersey is likely to come up empty-handed.