The British health system, already well shaken by the pandemic, is suffering another crisis head on: that of the staff. Caregivers have been warning about chronic understaffing for years, but now employees are leaving the National Health Service, the British public health service.
With our correspondent in London, Emeline Wine
They are 27,000 to have left the English public hospital between June and September 2021, a record since the start of the censuses in 2011 – this represents 2% of the staff.
The majority of those who motivate their departure evoke the search for a better life balance or speak of the lack of opportunities within the National Health Service compared to other employers.
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93,000 vacancies
The unions of caregivers say it: after two years of pandemic, more and more health professionals can no longer take it. Diagnoses of post-traumatic stress are increasing, the salary does not justify the pressure suffered and the guards are chained to compensate for the chronic shortage of caregivers, aggravated by sick leave due to Covid.
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Deficit which therefore risks being aggravated, precisely, by these resignations. The NHS says there are currently 93,000 vacancies across all specialties; the main consequence of which is less accessibility to care. In November, six million Britons were on the waiting list for treatment.