Nurses urge prime minister to 'sit up and value' the profession
More than 100 nurses have signed a letter to prime minister Theresa May urging her to 'sit up and value' the profession.
Timed to coincide with Nurses' Day today, the letter warns that life for some nurses in the UK means having to use food banks, work second jobs or take hardship grants, due to the ongoing pay cap.
The letter, published in the Daily Mirror, says it is 'little wonder' there are 24,000 unfilled nursing jobs in the NHS in England.
Generation 'put off'
'Years of real-terms pay cuts have left nurses heading for the door, with some going to stack shelves in the supermarket instead,' it says.
'The next generation of British nurses are being put off joining what is still a great profession.
'Patients do not get the care they deserve from a nursing workforce that is short on numbers and low on morale.
'Today is Nurses' Day and there is no better time to shine a light - like Florence Nightingale - on the life of a 21st century nurse.
'It is time for you and other ministers to sit up and value nursing.'
London-based community nurse Danielle Tiplady, who organised the letter, said it has been signed by '100 nurses and counting'.
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