An overwhelming number of nurses are leaving the UK to work in other countries. This has left the UK severely short-staffed with nurses.
Because these nurses want better-paying jobs in other places, a lot of them are looking for work outside of the country. Over the past year, twice as many nurses have left the country. This has left many hospitals short-staffed and trying to find new staff.
Individuals stopping and leaving the country are mostly going to the United States, New Zealand, or Australia. In these countries, nurses can make up to twice as much as they did in the UK, they say.
Doctor of nursing studies at King’s College London, Dame Anne Marie Rafferty, said, “Worryingly, it feels as if the UK is perceived not as a high- but a middle-income country in terms of pay terms and as a staging post where nurses from overseas can get used to western-style health systems in the search for better pay and conditions.”
For the UK to be seen as a job choice for nurses instead of just a stepping stone, many have said, it needs to be a good place to work for all nurses all the time. Reports say that the NHS has lost a lot of money because it costs a lot to hire new nurses.
NHS England told many nurses that they would get a pay raise, bonuses, non-monetary rewards, and perks.
The statement also said, “We kept our promise to hire an extra 50,000 NHS nurses six months early, and the first-ever long-term workforce plan will provide the biggest training expansion in NHS history.”
