Posted 12 July 2017 - 09:31
Posted 12 July 2017 - 09:31
News
NHS organisations reveal thousands of job vacancies – with some unfilled for months
Some NHS hospital organisations have more than 1,000 staff vacancies while others have left crucial roles unfilled for up to two years, an investigation has revealed.
Some NHS hospital organisations have more than 1,000 staff vacancies while others have left crucial roles unfilled for up to two years, an investigation has revealed
The ITV News probe across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland asked every acute organisation to disclose how many staff posts were unfilled.
The biggest gaps were in nursing at each one of the 92 trusts that responded to freedom of information requests, the broadcaster reported.
London
The figures reveal the largest number of vacancies are at Barts Health NHS Trust in London, which has 1,732 unfilled roles but is also the biggest hospital trust in the country.
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust trust, which manages eight of the city's hospitals, has 1,236 unfilled vacancies, with one role first advertised more than 18 months ago.
The trust at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust has 849 vacancies, including 401 unfilled posts for nurses.
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust has more than 1,042 vacancies, while at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust there are 965.
North England
Consultants are in demand at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, which has 48 vacant roles, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, which has 23, and Calderdale and
Huddersfield nhs Foundation Trust, where 44 roles remain unfilled.
Some trusts reported gaps in their intensive care units, such as Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, which has 36 vacant roles.
Others reported that some jobs had gone unfilled for months or even years, including Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where 44 vacant nursing roles and 12 consultant posts were first advertised at least six months ago.
Both Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust and Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust have vacant posts that were first advertised more than two years ago, while Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has a role for a chemotherapy sister that has been advertised four times since August 2016.
Scotland
In Scotland, the NHS Highland reported 357 vacancies, with one role that was first advertised more than 19 months ago.
ITV News said there are 636 vacancies across Wales, although it received no responses from the eight hospital boards in the country.
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt told the broadcaster: 'We are rightly saying we want to have much higher standards of care after the tragedy of Mid Staffs, we cannot allow hospitals to skimp on nursing staff.
'As a result of those changes we now have 15,000 more nurses in our hospital wards, 6,500 more doctors.
'But you can't magic up doctors and nurses, they need to be trained, we've increased the number of doctors we're training, we've made big reforms to nurse training.'
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