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The findings from the annual survey, carried out last autumn and published on Wednesday, March 30, reveal a stark picture of overstretched staff in local NHS hospitals and health trusts.

At University Hospitals of Derby and Burton Trust, only 22.6 per cent of registered nurses and midwives agreed their organisation had enough staff – down from 35.6 per cent in the 2020 survey.

A similar trend occurred at Chesterfield Royal Hospital Trust, where 23 per cent felt there were enough staff, down from 34.4 per cent in 2020; at Derbyshire Community Health Services Trust, 27.2 per cent, down from 41.3 per cent; and Derbyshire Healthcare Trust, 33.5 per cent, down from 47 per cent.

Nurses in Derbyshire are feeling overstretched and underpaid after two years which underlined their importance like never before.

Teresa Budrey, East Midlands regional director of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “When nurses say there are too few staff for them to do their job properly, it’s worrying because it can mean patients don’t receive the care they need or their safety is compromised.

“There are nearly 8,000 vacancies for NHS nurses across the Midlands – one in nine posts – and this has barely changed in the past four years. The results of this survey suggest the staffing crisis is getting worse, not better.”

She added: “Hospitals and other care providers have a huge challenge to recruit and retain enough nurses to fill the gaps, but they’ve been frustrated by the Government ducking its responsibility to ensure a sufficient supply of staff. The Government must commit to funding a workforce plan for the long term.”

The survey results also reveal fewer nurses and midwives in Derbyshire are satisfied with their level of pay than a year ago, even before the Government proposed a pay rise of two to three per cent for NHS workers this summer – in effect a pay cut given inflation.

The proportion of nurses who report being content with their pay ranges from 27.5 per cent at University Hospitals to 37.1 per cent at Derbyshire Healthcare, but the satisfaction rate has declined across all the trusts.

For the full survey results, go to https://tabsoft.co/3Ny69Av.

Nurses' union issues patient safety warning over Derbyshire staff shortages