Posted 30 June 2023 - 04:59
Posted 30 June 2023 - 04:59
News
Homes for nurses: how empty student flats are housing NHS staff
Accommodation is essential to help trust recruit and retain nurses, many of them from overseas, and is just a short walk from hospital
Accommodation is essential to help trust recruit and retain nurses, many of them from overseas, and is just a short walk from hospital
Hundreds of nurses will be able to rent student accommodation close their hospital workplace, in a move an NHS trust hopes will help it continue to recruit and retain staff.
The complex of 499 flats just metres from Royal Stoke University Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent will provide homes for nurses, including many recruited from overseas, after the local authority gave planning permission for its use by hospital staff as well as students. Although the accommodation was originally for students, the housing provider had struggled to get to full occupancy since the pandemic, so 200 are now be allocated for rent by hospital staff.
The arrangement involving University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust workers had been temporary, but is now permanent following the planning authority’s decision.
The accommodation ‘vital’ for international nurse recruitment
International lead nurse Stella Underwood said in a letter to the authority: ‘The property has been vital for our international nurse recruitment, and we anticipate further international recruitment in coming years.’
Many healthcare employers continue to seek to recruit nurses from overseas in an effort to fill widespread nursing vacancies but finding suitable accommodation can be an acute problem.
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