UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn have both promised to inject huge amounts of cash into the NHS to boost recruitment and ease pressure on the system as part of their parties’ election manifestos ahead of the general election on 12 December.
And now a Health spokesperson has said a recruitment drive in the UK could affect the Island’s ability to attract nurses and hospital doctors. Meanwhile, GP Dr Philip Terry, chairman of Jersey Doctors on Call, said that as the majority of GPs in Jersey came from the UK, primary care could also be affected.
Latest figures show there are 99 vacancies within the Health Department, comprising 55 nursing jobs, 17 doctors and 27 other roles. Locum doctors and nurses continue to fill the void
Pressures have eased since September when one union boss said Jersey was ‘in the red zone’ and facing one of its worst recruitment crises in years. At that time almost 200 posts were unfilled – about 11% of the total roles.
According to the Health spokesperson, the majority of Jersey’s nurses and doctors are recruited from the UK and Ireland. He said that efforts to recruit staff from other jurisdictions had not been successful.
Asked what impact a boost in funding and recruitment for the NHS would have on Jersey, he said: ‘It is difficult to predict. However, the pledge to increase NHS spending will, in all probability, see an increase in recruitment to fill the significant vacancies within the NHS. This will affect Jersey insofar as we will be competing for the same staff and may drive up costs around temporary staff such as agency nurses or locum doctors.’
He added that pay rates for locum doctors and nurses varied but stressed pay for temporary staff was currently ‘very competitive’ when compared with the NHS.
Kenny McNeil, chairman of the Jersey branch of the Royal College for Nursing, said recruitment of nurses had been an ‘issue in Jersey for some time’.
‘Jersey is certainly going to be aware and impacted by investment over there,’ he added.
Labour has promised to increase the NHS budget by £26bn by 2023-24. The party has also promised to train more GPs.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, have vowed to plough an additional £20.5bn into the NHS by 2023-24.
They also want to build 40 new hospitals over the next ten years, give 20 hospitals a £1.8bn cash injection and get 6,000 more GPs in England by 2024-25 and deliver 50,000 more nurses by bringing back nursing bursaries.
Dr Terry said: ‘Most GPs in Jersey are recruited from the UK and, if they are
trying to keep GPs there or paying more, then of course it would make it more difficult to recruit in Jersey. It’s simple arithmetic. GPs feel overworked in the UK and that plays well for us to attract them. If those issues are addressed it could be harder.’
The Health spokesperson added that recruitment for hospital staff came from three areas – home-grown talent, from outside Jersey or by attracting people back to nursing careers through a return-to-practice programme.
He added: ‘We will always need to recruit specialist skills and experienced staff from outside Jersey. Where we recruit staff will depend upon the role or specialism that we are recruiting to. We already have a rich mix among our current workforce of staff from a range of various nationalities. However, we mainly recruit via the UK and Ireland. Where we place adverts often attracts national and international applicants and we make good use of social media in our recruitment.’
Asked whether the Health Department was looking to recruit from other jurisdictions, the spokesperson said: ‘The shortages of specialist roles within health are often replicated internationally, and there is little benefit in recruiting from other jurisdictions, but this will depend upon the role. Where we have targeted other countries, despite initial interest, these generally have not converted to appointments. We do know, however, that our
staff are great advocates for working in Jersey and have been able to encourage friends and colleagues to move to Jersey for work. This has been particularly apparent in nursing.’
