Four out of 10 nursing posts empty

Nearly half the number of nursing posts in some key departments in London hospitals are vacant, according to latest figures seen by the Evening Standard.

The Department of Health statistics show the extent of the recruitment crisis. Staff shortages in key areas such as accident and emergency, intensive care and midwifery are now " rampant", campaigners warn.

More than 5,000 nursing posts across London have been empty for at least three months, despite offers of better pay and low-cost housing. Some cash-strapped hospitals are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds employing hundreds of temporary staff. And the high vacancy rates show no signs of abating, despite boasts by Health Secretary Alan Milburn that "the corner has been turned" on nurse recruitment.

Some of the most important nursing specialisms have been hit hardest. Newham hospital in east London is unable to fill 45 per cent of its intensive care (ITU) nursing posts. The Royal Free hospital in Hampstead has a 41 per cent vacancy rate for ITU nurses, while Mayday hospital in Croydon cannot fill 38 per cent of A& E nursing jobs.

Surgeons have complained that operations frequently have to be cancelled because of a lack of experienced ITU nurses to care for patients after surgery.

John Lister, of pressure group London Health Emergency, which released the figures, said: " London faces a widening gap in the availability of frontline staff, without whom services will eventually grind to a halt. The problem affects almost every trust. It is clear there is a major crisis growing in some specialisms, notably among midwives and ITU, where shortages are rampant. This is a

snapshot of the problem ministers must confront if London's NHS is to meet the targets laid down in the NHS Plan."

Overall, 13.5 per cent of all nursing posts in the 29 London trusts are empty. Five hospitals cannot fill at least one in five of the nursing posts they have budgeted for.

Worst hit are University College London Hospital (UCLH), and North Middlesex University hospital in Edmonton, where a quarter of posts are vacant.

Barts and the London NHS Trust is paying 246 agency nurses to help cope with its 22 per cent vacancy rate. North West London Hospitals Trust has a vacancy rate of 12.3 per cent, but is employing 400 agency staff as "whole time equivalent" nurses. Kingston hospital has 200 agency staff.

The Government has spent millions of pounds trying to keep nurses in their jobs and to recruit more to ease the shortages. Experienced nurses in key specialisms have been offered salaries of up to £40,000 and cheap, government-subsidised mortgages to buy houses in and around the capital.

But Tom Sandford, London regional director of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "There seems to be a culture of complacency within the Health Department that the worst of the recruitment and retention problem is over - , when in London it certainly isn't.

"It is not just about money and a few cheap mortgages - for many nurses it is about quality of life. They want to have good childcare, work in a place with good morale and feel valued. The Government has been relying a lot on overseas nurses to solve the problem instead of looking at how to attract people into nursing and keep homegrown nurses in London hospitals."