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Striking nurses compare working in NHS to a war zone

Understaffing has triggered chaos, while amid deepening crisis nurses struggle to pay bills, say strikers on Brighton picket line
Striking nurses in Brighton today

Understaffing has triggered chaos, while amid deepening crisis nurses struggle to pay bills, say strikers on Brighton picket line

Striking nurses in Brighton today
Striking nurses in Brighton today Picture: Shruti Sheth Trivedi

Nurses in Brighton have described working in the NHS as like being in a war zone as the NHS crisis deepens and colleagues struggle to make ends meet.

Speaking on the picket line at Brighton General Hospital today, staff nurse in dermatology Melissa Brown told Nursing Standard nurses were often redeployed across hospitals in the area, leaving her department understaffed.

‘They experience such horrors, they’ve described it as a war zone. It’s absolute chaos, we’re in dire straits,’ she said.

Ms Brown said while she is fortunate enough to have a partner who can help support her financially, today she is striking for all the nurses who cannot pay their bills.

‘I know so many people who are struggling to pay bills, to provide for their children. We don’t want to strike, we really don’t, but we feel like we’ve got no other option at this stage.’

Nurse worries about letting vulnerable patients down amid shortage of community nurses

Clinical nurse lead Verity Davidson said she was worried about letting vulnerable patients down because of a shortage of community nurses in her department.

‘Things are getting worse, we’re not able to get to the people who really need us and often that’s leading to hospital admissions and increased mortality for those patients. We’ve seen more deaths in the last few years because of this,’ Ms Davidson said.

‘Something’s got to be done. We’ve got to fix our beloved NHS and the starting point is to make nursing a fairly paid profession to encourage more people to join.’

Nurses told Nursing Standard that recruitment and retention was one of the biggest issues facing the south east of England, echoing sentiments of nursing colleagues across the country. Many feared that without better pay the profession would continue to shrink, putting patients at greater risk.

One nurse phones up to 80 patients a day to ask if they can wait a bit longer for a visit

Community nurse Victoria Kargaci said in a typical day she phones around 70 to 80 patients in the community who have not yet been seen to ask if they can wait a little longer for a visit.

‘It’s really tricky in terms of who gets seen and deciding who is the most unwell. The best thing that could come out of this is recruitment of more nurses. If the government could reduce the massive loans student nurses have to pay, there would be so much more interest in the profession.’

Over at Royal Sussex County Hospital, mental health nurses told Nursing Standard there been a steady drop in funding for mental health services over the past few years.

Mental health nurse for children and young people Jamie Adamsfield said: ‘It’s a challenge here in Brighton. There aren’t enough beds to support patients, which means you’ve got young people at risk of harm to themselves or others which we can’t safely support.’

Hospital feels like it is running at 50% staffing and 150% capacity

Strikers outside Brighton General Hospital
Strikers outside Brighton General Hospital Picture: Shruti Sheth Trivedi

Children’s nurse Meghan Martin-Wharfe said her unit at Royal Sussex County Hospital felt like it was staffed at 50% and running at 150%.

‘I came into nursing because I’m passionate about it and love my job, I love my patients, but I’m sick of being on shifts and feeling like my patients are unsafe because of what I’m able to offer them.

‘I want the government to take responsibility for all the reasons we’re in this situation.’

The RCN nurses strike will continue tomorrow, follow @NurseStandard for all the latest news.


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