Hospice struggles to fill nursing vacancies

The hospice provides end-of-life care for terminally ill people in Guernsey

A hospice in Guernsey is struggling to fill a total of 10 nursing vacancies.

Les Bourgs Hospice provides end-of-life care for terminally ill patients in the island, as well as support for their loved ones.

Jo Boyd MBE, hospice director, said there were several factors she thought were affecting recruitment.

They include housing costs on the island, anti-social hours and a lack of open days in recent years.

"Some of it is housing and the cost," she told the BBC.

"I think the other thing is the shift work. I think undoubtedly if people can work somewhere and not have to work unsocial hours that's certainly more attractive.

"[But] I also think there's a misconception about what we do."

The hospice is holding a series of "career open days" from Saturday until Sunday 13 August.

Ms Boyd said they would help show people the details of what the job involves.

A lack of such events in recent years had been down to the Covid-19 pandemic and a recent relocation of the hospice, she said.

"We've got a really good supportive workforce, but at the end of the day we are an aging workforce, people are wanting to retire, people's circumstances change, they move off island," she added.