Ruby's Story

Ruby is 24 and lives in Ribble Valley in the North West. She wanted to train as a nurse but found herself blocked at every turn. This isn't a story about individual failure or lack of ambition. It's about how HM Treasury's spending limits on Health Education England created artificial scarcity in NHS training places across the North West. The training capacity existed. The people who wanted to fill those places existed. What didn't exist was a central government willing to fund the posts that would get qualified nurses onto the wards that desperately need them. Ruby's story shows how Westminster's choice to treat public investment as a cost to be minimised blocks the healthcare workforce this country needs. This episode contains strong language and references to mental health struggles. Full transcript available at blockedbritain.co.uk.