Housing crisis causing tough commutes after long shifts

Nurses priced out of affordable homes are risking their health by driving long distances home after shifts. That was the stark warning from nurses at the RCN congress in Glasgow last month.

Student Lindsay Branch rents a room in east London rather than commuting home to Essex each night

A debate on housing heard multiple examples of how nurses’ careers – and health – were being affected by a lack of affordable rented accommodation and soaring house prices. Neil Thompson, from the RCN UK safety representatives committee, told congress: ‘High rents might be of no consequence if we still had acres of subsidised nursing accommodation for underpaid staff to live in. The impact of this is that many people find themselves isolated or in risky positions of being too tired at the end of a shift to get home safely.’

According to the Halifax House Price Index, a

...