Belfast Trust sees 182 nurse resignations in six months

There are a total of 18,449 registered nurses and midwives in Northern Ireland, according to the Department of Health

More than 180 nurses resigned from Northern Ireland's largest health trust in the first half of this year, BBC News NI has learned.

Figures from the Belfast Trust show 315 nurses left between 1 January and 31 July for various reasons.

More than half (182) resigned, while 81 nurses retired and 21 transferred within the health service.

A total of 533 nurses left all of the trusts during that time period but only the Belfast Trust gave a breakdown.

A nursing union says it is angry and worried about the growing number of members leaving the profession.

Rita Devlin, acting director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said it was now a safety issue as there were not enough nurses to give patients the care they needed.

A nursing agency said the number of new registrations it received during the first six months of this year was up by about 10% compared to the same time last year.

The Department of Health said the 533 leavers figure would include retirees and nurses moving to other health and social care organisations.

"This level of leavers in recent years is commensurate with the size and composition of the workforce," the department said.

Katharine Walker left the health service in June 2020 - several months after the start of the pandemic.

Speaking to BBC News NI, she said she wanted a work-life balance, which was not possible when mostly working nights.

"I loved my time working within the NHS but I was only there for four years and I was exhausted.

"I can't imagine how the staff are coping at the minute working with Covid and everything else.

"I worked in ICU [intensive care unit] and I worked with really incredible people who are so passionate about their job and the things you are seeing are almost indescribable at times."

Ms Walker joined an agency, which she says has given her flexibility and the "slightly" better pay means she can work fewer hours.

She is inundated with requests to work at the minute.

"All the hospitals are looking staff," she said.

"Some wards are really on their knees and it's hard because it plays on your good nature as a nurse because you want to help out but ultimately you have to look after yourself too."

She doesn't blame management for the staffing issues.

"They don't have enough staff to manoeuvre - so maybe if the staffing was there it would help," she added.

Ms Devlin said the RCN had been on the record for at least a decade over nursing shortages.

"They are starting to vote with their feet and they are leaving some of the high-pressure areas to go to other places or indeed to go and work for agencies," she said.

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Kieran McCormick, managing director of Balmoral Healthcare, said nurses were leaving the health service and joining the independent sector so they could be more in control of the hours they work.

Mr McCormick, who once worked for the health service, said nurses wanted to be respected and generally felt "fed up and done".

"I believe the executive is trying to fix it but it's about the whole package - paying them good wages, offering nurses flexible working and allowing them to move around and progress within the system," he said.

Chief nursing officer Charlotte McArdle acknowledged that staff shortages were not something that could be "fixed overnight" but that a "clear plan" for recruitment had been put in place.

She also told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme that the safety of patients and nurses on wards was paramount.

"Any unit that would be unsafe, steps would be taken to ensure that position is rectified and there are a number of things that can be done to make that happen," she said.

"Bringing in additional staff, closing beds where they have to to maintain a safe staffing level, deploying other staff into that unit, there are steps that can be taken on a daily basis.

"Nursing is a safety-critical profession, I would agree with my colleagues in the RCN on that point, but steps are being taken to ensure that safety is maintained and that can be challenging at times but that is a requirement."

Make pay a 'priority'

Patricia McKeown, regional secretary of the union Unison, said the figures reflected "the serious pressure that nurses are under working within a health service that is understaffed and under-resourced".

She said that while many nurses would have moved within the health service, a significant number would have chosen to leave the NHS to work for nursing agencies, with pay a "major factor in that decision".

"These agencies charge a premium to cover staff shortages across the health service whilst vacancies remain unfilled," she said.

She said the executive must make pay a priority.

Out of the nurses who left the Belfast Health Trust, 16 were from the intensive care unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

The figures for all leavers from the other trusts are:

• Northern - 110 nurses (one from ICU)

• Western - 144

• Southern - 60 (five from ICU)

• South Eastern - 37 (six from ICU)

BBC News NI also asked about unfilled posts.

Not all of the health trusts could provide answers within the time requested, but according to the Southern Trust it has 255 unfilled posts. There are 150 in the Northern Trust.

The Department of Health said there were 18,449 registered nurses and midwives with a staff turnover rate of about 1,000 registrants per annum, "which has been consistent for the past three years".

"It should be pointed out however that this does not represent a reduction in overall staff numbers as the nursing and midwifery workforce has grown by 4.4% from March 2020," the department said.

A spokesperson said the department had been addressing nursing shortages over the past five years through a range of measures.

"Since April 2020, over 3,800 new appointments have been made across Health and Social Care services, of which almost 2,200 are Health and Social Care appointments," they added.

"In addition, we have maintained the highest ever number of pre-registration nurse training places for this year - 1,325."