The South West has 11% fewer nurses and health visitors per 100,000 people than the England average, it seems.
Since 2015, London has had a 13% rise in nurses, but the figure is only 11% for the South West, despite London having greater staffing numbers to begin with.
Bath’s MP, Wera Hobhouse has said the “worrying figures” show that patients in the city are being left behind.
Ms Hobhouse has called for there to be a focus on retention and recruitment as there are 130,000 staff vacancies across the health service. These vacancies lead to long waiting times, missed targets and poor outcomes for patients in Bath.
The Liberal Democrats support a pay rise for NHS staff as close to the rate of inflation as possible.
Currently, the Government scheme ensures that the lowest-paid staff will get an increase of around 9%, this category does not extend to nurses. As such, a nurse on basic pay (currently £35,600) will only get a 3.9% pay rise.
In power, the Liberal Democrats would create a new Professional Body for Care Workers to promote clear career development pathways and better pay structures for frontline staff.
Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath, said:
“Behind these statistics are nurses and health visitors that are being pushed into burn-out from an incredible strain on resources.
“The Government’s promises become more and more disappointing. The sad truth is they’re disinterested in our NHS, and refuse to take action to pull it back from the brink.
“I am proud that the Liberal Democrats have put forward a credible plan to protect, retain and attract nurses by offering fair pay.”
