aware but of course, we are talking about other things but that does not get us past the fact that other things come along and they are asking for more money and this obviously concerns that they have about patient safety and staffing and the fact that there s so many nursing vacancies across the country and however work they are and that is part of it but essentially, they are asking for more money in the government is not prepared to talk about it. ~ ., government is not prepared to talk about it. ~., ., government is not prepared to talk about it. a, ., ., about it. moving to the front page ofthe about it. moving to the front page of the telegraph, about it. moving to the front page of the telegraph, an about it. moving to the front page of the telegraph, an interesting i of the telegraph, an interesting headline, making a conscious choice to inflict harm on patients. that is according to the telegraph. a conscious choice. do they think people that watch the strikes, support wha
let s just turn to some of the people nursing for almost two decades. something i mentioned was the nursing vacancies and over the years that has been getting worse? definitely. when i was working on the wards up until three years ago, there wasn t an issue with staffing. i would say that has drastically changed, particularly in the last year. fair pay. it is about pay. it is about attracting nurses into the role. you know, the student numbers are down, attrition rates of student nurses are high. so, a lot of nurses don t actually finish theirtraining. and we need to attract nurses into the profession. i think that the level of responsibility that a nurse has when they qualify, their pay doesn t reflect that. so, i think that s why we want a fair pay rise. it s about patient safety. at the moment, there s not enough nurses to look after patients, you know, effectively and carefully. and one the ways that those gaps are being filled, by agency staff.
morning in cardiff. the reason is here in cardiff and in wales, very similar to those reasons across the uk. pay and conditions. staffing levels as well. as chris mentioned in northern ireland, staffing levels and nursing vacancies, that is really impacting a number of departments here in wales. we had a quick look at some figures yesterday to show that the increase in nursing vacancies in wales had gone up by 70% since last year. and that is after, of course, two difficult years for the health profession during covid, of course, as well. let s turn to somebody who s been nursing for almost two decades, rhiannon. something i mentioned was the nursing vacancies. 0ver rhiannon. something i mentioned was the nursing vacancies. over the years there has been getting worse. yes, definitely. when i was working on the yes, definitely. when i was working on the wards up until three years ago. on the wards up until three years ago. there on the wards up until three years ago, there wasn t
and northern ireland, health is devolved in wales, the money comes through the welsh government to pay for the nhs, through the welsh government to pay forthe nhs, but through the welsh government to pay for the nhs, but the majority of the welsh government s money comes from westminster, although some is raised through the limited taxation powers the welsh government can bring up themselves. i spoke to the health minister earlier this week and she said that she wasn t willing to raise taxes at a cost of living crisis, she wasn t willing to diminish other public services to raise the pay of nurses at the moment so she had thrown it back into the court of the uk government, something criticised by plaid cymru and the welsh tories. but she says there physically is not another option at the moment, she s still waiting for a response from the uk government on that as well. but the issues here, very similar. but one of the differences, i suppose, is on staffing. and when it comes to the nur
and the only one that isn t is a neighbouring health board to where i am, in bevan, which covers the city of newport but here in cardiff, this picket line outside the rcn building isjust outside a university hospital in wales, wales s largest hospital on the route in getting a lot of support from people coming in today. understandably standing out in the very cold weather today, 5 this morning in cardiff. the reasons here in cardiff and in wales very similar to those reasons across the uk, really. pay and conditions and the staffing levels, as well. as chris mentioned in northern ireland, staffing levels and nursing vacancies, that is really impacting a number of departments here in wales. we had a quick look at some figures yesterday to show that the increase in nursing vacancies in wales had gone up by 70% since last year. and that is after, of course, two difficult years for the health profession during covid.