Nearly 1/3 of Birmingham nursing staff consider resigning
A large amount of nursing staff in Birmingham are considering resigning, due to a poor work-life balance.
Figures released by NHS Digital show that 281 Birmingham nursing staff quit last year, before October. 1/5th of these resignations cited a poor work-life balance as the main cause.
Acting Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal Colleg of Nursing, Dame Donna Kinnair, claimed that low morale was leading to staff losses – causing further low morale.
She said that low staffing levels have caused nurses to work harder than ever to run the NHS, at the expense of their free time.
As a result, nearly one in three staff consider leaving their jobs.
“Half of all staff have raised low staffing levels as an issue, more are saying they are working unpaid overtime to keep the service running and increasing numbers report seeing errors that could harm patients”, said Kinnair.
“With tens of thousands of nursing posts empty, what’s needed is targeted investment of at least £1bn in nursing higher education to increase supply as well as legislation that guarantees the right number of nurses and nursing support staff with the right skills to provide safe and effective care.”
Across all of England, 12,258 nurses and health care visitors resigned voluntarily by October last year.
Mirroring the statistics in Birmingham, around 1/5th (2569 in total) said they left because of a poor work – life balance.
Sean Welsh
Sean W Journalism Reflections blog 