Gloucestershire Royal Hospital nurse says job is 'constant battle'

Staff are understood to be leaving the profession due to the pressures of the job

A nurse says people are quitting the profession due to the intense pressure staff are under.

The nurse at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital said a lack of staff is having an impact on morale.

"People don't want to work in this environment. It's a constant battle all the time, we just want things to change for the better," they said.

The chief executive of the hospital said a plan was in place to improve the culture of the workplace.

A nurse, who does not wish to be named, said the situation was having a huge impact on welfare and bosses were not taking their concerns on board.

"There are people who have been with us who are from a military background who have resilience built into them and they say they can't do it," the nurse told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"On any given day we should have nine registered nurses and four healthcare assistants. At the moment we are running with three.

"That has a knock-on effect on morale - we can't see to our patients as much as we would like," they added.

'Immense pressure'

Chief executive of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Deborah Lee said there was no doubt the healthcare system was under "immense pressure".

"I know that all staff come to work each day to do a good job, to make a positive impact and when they can't do that, they feel that they've let their patients down," she said.

"We are aware of the negative experience that some staff have been exposed to.

"We are determined to move towards a more positive culture which focuses on fairness, openness and learning, and have a clear plan to deliver this improvement," she added.

Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are to strike for two days next month in what is set to be their biggest walkout in the NHS's history.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced strikes on 15 and 20 December in its pay dispute with the government.