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Nurses’ pay would have to be tripled in order for them to afford housing for their families in central London, a leading HR professional in the NHS has claimed.
Deborah O’Dea, HR director at St Mary’s Hospital in London, believes the 50 per cent turnover rate for newly-qualified nurses within her trust is caused by accommodation problems.
Buying a three-bedroom house in the area costs around £180,000 - beyond the means of experienced nurses earning £18,950 per year.
O’Dea said, “We found it costs £1,950 per calendar month to rent a one-bedroom flat in Paddington - more than a nurse’s monthly salary. Currently, 58 per cent of her staff live in west or northwest London, with up to 900 needing hospital accommodation.
Surveys of hospital staff by the HR department shows that staff most likely to stay with the hospital were over aged 40.
She believes that recruiting older, settled people who are likely to own their own house is key to solving the recruitment and retention problems.
Speaking at a School of Business and Industrial Management conference on affordable housing in the NHS in London last week, she said, “I believe there is a direct link between the housing our staff live in and providing quality healthcare to the people of west London.
“I want nurses to be able to get on the accommodation ladder so they can achieve the ambition of a three-bedroom flat.”
