Carla's Story

Carla is 31 and lives in Oxford East in the South East. She wanted to train as a nurse but couldn't get a place on the course she needed. This isn't about lack of demand for healthcare workers or shortage of people wanting to train. Health Education England's budget was constrained by Treasury spending limits that treat public investment as a cost to be minimised. The training places existed, the people who wanted to fill them existed, but Westminster chose to cap the budget as though the government that issues the pound could run out of pounds. NHS workforce planning has failed to match training places to the vacancy levels that hospitals desperately need to fill. Disclosure: This podcast advocates for sovereign currency understanding in public policy discussions.