MORE needs to be done to tackle the cost of living in Oxfordshire to stop hospital staff from leaving, a trade union representative has said.

Sharon Akers, Unison convener for Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, said extra cash should be offered to staff struggling to afford living and working in the county.

It came as the trust blamed the temporary closing of 12 beds in Abingdon and Witney community hospitals on staff shortages.

Ms Akers said: “We want the trust to reinstate the cost of living supplement to address this problem of retention.

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“It’s much better if you keep the staff you’ve got, rather than continuously try to recruit new staff, which is much more expensive.

“A lot of our members didn’t get a pay rise this year and are worse off because it’s very expensive to live around here.

“They move on to live in cheaper areas or move to London where they can get London weighting.”

Ms Akers said former Health Secretary Alan Milburn introduced a cost of living supplement for health professionals and nurses in 2002, but Oxford Health took away the £600-a-year assistance in a round of cuts about three years ago.

Oxford Health announced yesterday it had closed six beds in Abingdon and six in Witney because there were “high levels” of nurse vacancies. It has started a fresh recruitment drive and said the beds will be re-opened once it has sufficient staff.

Spokesman Alistair Duncan added: “There are particular issues in Oxfordshire where the relatively high cost of living does not enjoy a high cost area supplement for NHS staff as is the case in London.”

Royal College of Nursing south east operational manager Lindsay Meeks said supplements encouraged nurses to work locally.

She said: “Scrapping it has only made the situation worse, and we would call for this to be reinstated as a matter of urgency.”

The county’s staffing crisis comes as Oxford University Hospitals Trust (OUHT) was given the go-ahead to proceed with its application to secure foundation trust status in April 2015, despite failing to meet key waiting time targets.

Sir Jonathan Michael, OUHT chief executive, said the trust was in talks with both Oxford City and Oxfordshire County Councils about creating staff accommodation at the Churchill and John Radcliffe hospital sites and believes foundation trust status will boost the drive to build affordable homes for staff .


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