The survey revealed more than half of respondents said they are likely or very likely to quit nursing in the next 5 years due to low pay and cost of living pressures. Of those, 72% are under the age of 55 years old in the NW region.
The analysis, commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and carried out by London Economics, is released alongside new damning figures from an RCN cost of living survey of almost 11,000 nursing staff in England. In the NW, there were just under 1250 responses.
NW members appear to be feeling the worst hit with the crisis after four in five (80%) of respondents said that they are financially worse off compared to 12 months ago; higher than the average calculated for England, 77%.
With over 64% saying they have either sole or main responsibility for paying for household costs it was alarming to hear that over two thirds (72%) also admitted to rationing gas and electricity during the last winter; again higher than the 68% England baseline.
Real-terms cuts to NHS wages since 2010/11 have been so severe that hundreds of thousands of nurses are effectively working 5 days a month for free, as new analysis shows a quarter has been cut from pay packets in the last decade.
The RCN said the findings from the analysis and the survey demonstrate how urgent it is for the government to deliver a fair pay award when it is due on 1 April this year.
In its submission to the NHS Pay Review Body, the RCN demanded a "substantial and above inflation" pay rise along with an additional salary top-up worth "several thousand pounds" going to every member of nursing staff. The College says this would help stem the exodus of nursing staff from the NHS and combat chronic workforce shortages.
When asked what would help respondents the most with the cost of living, the most popular response was increased pay, followed by discounted travel tied to employment and then reduced car parking charges.
