Hospital evicts 170 nurses

About 170 nurses will become "homeless" after a London hospital decided to turn their accommodation into a mental health unit.

The move by Mile End Hospital in east London has been condemned by nursing groups who warn it will drive staff away. The subsidised housing costs only £126 a month - far less than full commercial rents.

Jocelyn Moya, 46, an elderly care nurse, said: "Even other nursing homes within the area are charging twice as much rent. The home is also a safe place for nurses to live and this is another facility being taken away from us. I haven't found anywhere yet and it's scary."

Paediatric nurse Claire Phillips, 21, said: "We feel very let down. More and more nursing homes are being sold off to the private sector."

She has found alternative housing but added: "I know of many who can't afford to work and live as a nurse in London."

The news comes after a King's Fund report revealed up to one in three nurses in central London hospitals resigns each year.

A spokeswoman for the Royal College of Nursing condemned the Mile End decision, saying: " Accommodation shortages are reaching crisis levels. The Government must take action to stop nurses leaving the capital."

The hospital is to close a block housing 170 nurses as part of a £21 million mental health unit development. A spokesman said this would "provide much-needed facilities". At least 100 nurses are yet to be rehoused.

The average London property costs 10 times a nurse's starting salary of £17,500.