Staff offered £500 bribe to tackle Welsh Labour’s nursing crisis
A newly appointed contractor is offering a “fab” £500 bonus to attract nurses to fill vacant Welsh NHS posts.
The advert by ‘Just Nurses’ is aimed at new recruits and offers them the opportunity to “earn an additional £500 simply for registering and completing 10 shifts”.
It talks of an “abundance of vacancies and shift patterns to choose from”, which will embarrass Labour Ministers who have repeatedly played down talk of a crisis in nurse recruitment.
It also comes just days after Welsh Conservatives uncovered figures which revealed a combined deficit of over 1,000 nurses at Welsh health boards.
FOIs by the party found that six out of seven health boards are failing to replace nursing staff who leave through resignation or retirement.
Commenting on the advert, Shadow Health Secretary – Angela Burns – said:
“These bumper bonus payments may attract nurses to enter into agency work but will do nothing for the many nurses leaving the profession each year.
“It’s hugely embarrassing for the minister because it lays bare the recruitment crisis on his watch.
“Clearly, throwing money at the problem isn’t going to solve it – but this practice makes a mockery of the flagship Safe Staffing Legislation passed by Assembly Members in 2016.
“Welsh NHS staff will want reassurance that these bonuses aren’t being paid for by the Welsh Government.
“We need leadership from ministers, not gimmicks, and taxpayers’ money would be better spent supporting the many nurses leaving the profession each year.”
See Just Nurses’ advert HERE: http://www.justnurses.co.uk/grab-a-fab-500.php?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Fab%20500&utm_campaign=Fab%20500
