MP challenges Health Secretary on plans to stop doctors and nurses leaving NHS
MP Helen Morgan has urged Health Secretary Steve Barclay to announce plans for how the Government will retain existing NHS workers and recruit new staff.
It comes as hospitals across the county have faced huge challenges both keeping and hiring staff, with the problem particularly bad in Shropshire, where delays accessing emergency care are among the worst in the country.
Staff turnover at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust is 14.7 per cent – meaning one in seven staff members leave the hospitals every year – and the latest figures show the trust has the equivalent of 655 full-time vacancies to fill.
Speaking in the Commons on Tuesday, Mrs Morgan said: “One of the key issues in Shropshire is a shortage of staff across every discipline and at every level. And it's one of the reasons for the horrifying ambulance wait times that I raised in this place on my first day on the 5th of January 2022.
"This is not a new issue for 2023. So I'd like to ask the minister, what is his plan to improve staff retention?
“Because staff recruitment on its own isn't going to plug this gap. It hasn't plugged it in Shropshire and there's no signs of plugging it across the rest of the country.”
Meanwhile, the number of vacancies at the The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Gobowen has more than doubled since May, with more than one in 10 roles at the trust yet to be filled.
CEO Stacey Keegan has highlighted recruitment and retention as one of her biggest challenges, with staff turnover at the Orthopaedic at 12.9 per cent as of October.
Mrs Morgan has previously raised the issue in Parliament, citing issues such as poor transport links and a lack of accommodation meaning it is difficult for rural health settings to attract new staff.
