Solution needed where nurses don't have to rely on food banks - The Yorkshire Post says

The reality is that nurses have been struggling with an overstretched NHS and increased patient demand for several years.

There are a record number of vacancies with some 25,000 nurses leaving the profession last year alone in the UK. NHS figures showed that there were 6,050 nursing vacancies across Yorkshire and the North East alone, at the end of June this year.

Nurses, who we all applauded for their sacrifices during the Covid crisis, are increasingly finding themselves feeling the strain on their shifts due to a lack of staffing. If the country is to break this vicious cycle then improving pay to an acceptable level has to be a priority. For while these people enter the profession to help others, not offering a sustainable income is not going to attract more people to nursing. And as a result, existing staff will continue to suffer from difficult working conditions.

The fact that this is the first UK-wide strike by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in its 106-year history, shows that nurses do not readily agitate over pay and working conditions. For the majority of nurses, the major purpose is to care for others.

The Chancellor must remember that before the Autumn Statement next week. It’s not a question of can we afford to reward nurses, instead it is a question of can we afford not to reward them.

Hopefully a resolution can be found that prevents a walk out and where there isn’t a single nurse relying on food banks in the country.