Zoe's Story

In this episode of Blocked Britain, we meet Zoe, a 29-year-old from Ashton-under-Lyne in the North West who wanted to train as a nurse but found her path blocked by central government choices. Her constituency ranks in England's second most deprived decile, where NHS staffing shortages hit hardest. Yet Health Education England's training budgets were capped by HM Treasury, treating public investment as a cost to minimise rather than the means to get qualified nurses onto wards that desperately need them. The training places existed, people wanted to fill them, but Westminster chose to limit funding as though the government that issues the pound could run out of pounds. Disclosure: this episode explores how monetary sovereignty could reshape workforce planning. Original interview conducted remotely.