Posted 03 April 2023 - 13:18
Posted 03 April 2023 - 13:18
News
Nurse resigns on Twitter, saying he can’t work in NHS any longer
Emergency nurse announces resignation in early morning tweet, tagging two MPs, saying he feels anxiety about working another shift in ‘broken’ care system
Emergency nurse announces resignation in early morning tweet, tagging two MPs, saying he feels anxiety about working another shift in ‘broken’ care system
An emergency nurse has announced his resignation on Twitter, saying he can no longer face working in the NHS.
Matthew Osborne, who has been a nurse for 19 years and worked in emergency care for 14 years, said he had seen an exodus of staff and colleagues taking their own lives due to the unrelenting pressures impacting the health service.
He tweeted that emergency care was ‘broken’ and he could not work another shift.
‘Sitting here at five in the morning, having worked one emergency department shift yesterday and anxiously waiting to get ready for the next one, I find I don't want to go in,’ he said.
Nurses are currently voting on a new pay offer that many have branded insulting
‘I have seen an exodus of staff. I have seen colleagues commit suicide. I am done, and I am handing in my notice today.’
Mr Osborne tagged Conservative MP for Southend West Anna Firth, whose constituency covers Southend University Hospital where he works, and the Conservative MP for Rochford and Southend East Sir James Duddridge.
He said the current government’s approach to health and care was ‘breaking’ him, adding: ‘I have seen my value in the eyes of the current government in yet another pay deal that means a real-term pay cut.’
Mr Osborne has previously written for Nursing Standard about the state of emergency care, describing the queue for care often seen outside emergency departments as ‘soul-destroying’.
The NHS in England currently has more than 43,000 nursing vacancies, with nurses quitting due to burnout and poor pay. Recent figures show many nurses are leaving well before retirement age, often for better paid jobs elsewhere.
Hundreds of thousands of nurses are currently voting on a new pay offer, which includes a 5% rise for 2023-24 and a one-off payment for 2022-23. Many nurses have branded the offer insulting.
Speaking to local radio station BBC Essex, Mr Osborne said he had witnessed firsthand the ‘inevitable decline’ in quality of care due to staffing pressures.
‘Every single time you don’t deliver the care you think people deserve, it just cuts away a little bit more at how you feel about the job, how you can deliver the job and your emotional resolve,’ he said.
RCN cites desperate need for action to tackle shortage of nursing staff
‘I’m very conscious of the fact that by leaving I am contributing to that loss in institutional memory and it is putting more pressure on my colleagues who are left behind, but it does come to a point where you have to realise your own mental health is starting to suffer.’
RCN Eastern regional director Teresa Budrey said: ‘We desperately need to see action to tackle the shortage of nursing staff, which impacts on safety and the care given to patients in our region and beyond.’
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Southend University Hospital, and MP Anna Firth have been contacted for comment.
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