Nurses on strike: Cambridgeshire student nurse in £62,000 of debt says colleagues leaving NHS for 'better paid' supermarket jobs

A striking student nurse, who claims the NHS is “on it’s knees and failing”, has said nurses are abandoning careers in the health service for “better paid” supermarket jobs.

William Arber-Colmer is in the final year of his degree to become a fully-qualified nurse.

He joined a picket line of Royal Collage of Nursing (RCN) members of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust at Doddington Hospital, in March, on Tuesday (December 20).

The striking student nurse said he will be in £62,000 of debt by the end of his degree only to be earning under the national living wage once he is qualified.

“I fell in love with this job and couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” William, who worked in the ambulance service for five years before switching to a career in nursing, said.

“I will never pay that debt off – I will take that debt to the grave. I’ve been told by financial advisors that I will never be able to get a mortgage because I’m simply not earning enough.

“We’ve already lost 40,000 nurses because of the pandemic. I’ve got colleagues who are leaving and going to work in supermarkets because they get paid more there than as nurses using their degrees."

Up to 100,000 members of the RCN in England, Wales and Northern Ireland took part in what was the second day of industrial strike action this month.

The strikes are in response to an ongoing dispute between the RCN and the government over pay and patient safety due to staff shortages.

RCN members have reported that 80 per cent of their shifts are understaffed, which can lead to compromised care for patients.

William claims nurses are working on wards where they are caring for “up to 14 patients each” when they should only be looking after four.

"As a student, it really puts you off finishing your degree,” he said. “You don’t get a chance to learn because there are no staff – and the staff they have got are focussing on the patients.

"It’s a really unsafe environment. If changes don’t happen in the future it’s only going to get worse and eventually there won’t be an NHS. It’s on it’s knees and failing.

"This is why we are striking. None of us want to be doing this, we all want to be caring for our patients – but the Government needs to appreciate that we need to be able to afford to live at the same time.”

A statement published by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are working with trade unions to ensure there will be minimal disruption to patient care during the industrial action.

“Patients should continue to attend their planned appointments unless contacted to reschedule and anyone in mental health crisis should call our First Response Service via NHS 111.”