Helena's Story

Helena, 31, from Sheffield Hallam wanted to train as a nurse to serve her community in Yorkshire and The Humber. But Health Education England's training budgets were capped by HM Treasury spending limits that treat public investment as a cost to minimise rather than the means by which trained healthcare workers reach the wards that desperately need them. The training places existed. People like Helena wanted to fill them. What was missing was a central government willing to fund the posts. This episode explores how Westminster's political choices block willing workers from entering the NHS when healthcare capacity is most needed. Disclosure: This story is a representative composite based on research into systemic barriers facing healthcare training in the region.