Thousands of NHS staff set to leave over soaring fuel prices, chiefs warn

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, warned: “If NHS staff working in the community can’t afford to fill their tanks, then they cannot make important house calls and check in on some of the most vulnerable and poorly patients in our communities.” He said the issue had become “critical” and now needed “urgent” action from the government on the costs of fuel for staff. It added: “Many NHS leaders said community-based staff have turned down offers of community sector jobs in favour of roles nearer to home or without the need for travel, including outside of the NHS in other sectors such as retail.” One community provider leader reported that some of their staff were already paying an additional £200 per month in fuel costs to visit patients, while another said increasing numbers of workers were calling in sick, rather than admitting that they cannot afford to pay for travel. “As NHS leaders we are already struggling to keep staff or recruit new people to fill vacancies.” Saffron Cordery, interim chief of NHS Provider, said that “vacancies for health visitors and district nurses are high already, and soaring fuel costs risk driving away staff we can ill afford to lose”. Dr Latifa Patel, the workforce lead for the British Medical Association, said: “Many doctors are reaching breaking point, fed up with feeling undervalued and underpaid as the reality of working in the NHS has become increasingly more challenging, and many are choosing to talk with their feet.” The Royal College of Nursing said that “a decade of real terms pay cuts, coupled with spiralling living costs, is forcing many nursing staff to question if they can continue to stay in the profession”.