Nurses in poverty: money worries soar along with living costs
Posted 12 April 2022 - 15:17
One nurse tells BBC’s Panorama programme how she skips meals so her children will eat, and only the help of neighbours enables her to avoid food banks
‘We have £7 in the bank… that is to last us ten days’ – an NHS nurse has told of struggle to pay bills and put food on the table as the cost of living soars.
Rebeccah, who works three days a week as a radiology nurse in Leicester, told BBC’s Panorama programme she often skips meals to feed her children and relies on food donations from neighbours. She says she cannot keep up with rising bills on a nurse’s wage.
'Whatever happens I have to provide’
One nurse tells BBC’s Panorama programme how she skips meals so her children will eat, and only the help of neighbours enables her to avoid food banks
‘We have £7 in the bank… that is to last us ten days’ – an NHS nurse has told of struggle to pay bills and put food on the table as the cost of living soars.
Rebeccah, who works three days a week as a radiology nurse in Leicester, told BBC’s Panorama programme she often skips meals to feed her children and relies on food donations from neighbours. She says she cannot keep up with rising bills on a nurse’s wage.
'Whatever happens I have to provide’
The documentary Surviving the Cost of Living Crisis, first broadcast on Monday, follows three families as they try to cope with the biggest predicted fall in living standards since the 1950s.
‘With a nurse’s wage it’s still frustrating that we don’t break even. I know it’s not going to get any better, so it’s just trying to plan things in your head about how you’re going to manage things,’ Rebeccah tells the programme.
‘I’ve checked the bank balance this morning and we have £7 now in the bank. That is to last us for ten days now until the family allowance comes in.’
The single mother-of-three does not have a car and mainly uses a bike or walks to get around. She is unable to work full-time because of the cost of childcare.
After paying her bills she is left with £80 a week to pay for everything else, including the family’s food. She says that without the help of her neighbours she would be using food banks.
‘My children are aware food is a struggle. I do skip meals so they eat, and they are aware of that. I’ve been at breaking point, but… whatever happens I have to provide, and I will do,’ she added.
If you are a nurse with money worries, help is out there
- Cavell Nurses’ Trust Support for nurses facing personal or financial crisis
- RCN counselling Service for RCN members
- TalkToUs Emotional support for nurses who work in the community
- Turn2us Charity for people who are struggling financially
Huge rise in fuel costs
Last week the energy price cap increased by 54%, allowing energy companies to hike bills by hundreds of pounds a year. This is combined with government changes to national insurance payments, meaning that Band 5 nurses on £31,534 could be £935 worse off a year, according to the RCN.
On Friday, the Independent Food Aid Network, which runs 550 food banks, wrote to the prime Minister and chancellor saying it is ‘deeply concerned about the scale of suffering’ and said there is a “relentless” demand for their services.
The Queens Nursing Institute’s director of nursing programmes Sue Boran said: ‘People who were just managing before are now going to struggle to pay essential bills and put food on the table and this will have a knock-on effect on their physical and mental health.’
She said the QNI can offer financial assistance to those in need and encouraged community nurses to use its TalkToUs service.
In other news
- Nurses share their ghost stories
- Likelihood of nurses being bullied by their colleagues greater since the pandemic
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