The latest figures from the Royal College of Nursing paint a worrying if unsurprising picture (Two-thirds of NHS nurses believe lack of staff is putting patients at risk, survey finds, 18 May). But to achieve safer staffing levels, we must look beyond recruitment and listen to what those leaving the workforce are telling us needs to change.

For me, it was the complete incompatibility of a career in nursing with any semblance of normal family life. The rigid system of inflexible, inconsistent shift patterns, coupled with a complete lack of control over my schedule, made it feel impossible to balance my career with the realities of life outside work. Despite having spent three years training to achieve my registration, I left after just 12 months on the job.

And I am not alone. Chronic inflexibility is forcing thousands of my colleagues to leave the careers they love and have worked so hard for every year. Recruitment is important, but without breaking this cycle, no number of new nurses will deliver lasting results.

Nurses know what they are signing up for. It’s not a normal nine-to-five job, and long hours and unsociable shifts are part of it. That said, in 2026 there is no reason why NHS staff should be forced to give up the basic flexibility, career autonomy and work-life balance that our peers in other industries take for granted.

We already have the tools to deliver a truly modern approach to workforce management in our NHS. What we need now is a commitment from leaders and decision-makers to put plans into action and ensure that the next generation of nurses aren’t forced to choose between work and life. That means giving them real autonomy over their careers and shifting away from the misguided assumption that flexibility and productivity are mutually exclusive.
Zoe Anderson
Account executive, Patchwork Health, and former NHS nurse

Your story on nurse shortages mirrors my late son’s experience last year. My son died of bowel cancer in December aged just 46. He died two weeks after a delayed diagnosis (there was no one to do his colonoscopy). He spent his last week in a cardiac ward (the only place there was a bed after waiting 48 hours in A&E), in the oldest part of the hospital, built in 1928, which was in a poor state of repair.

This ward only had one qualified male nurse on duty for part of the time, excluding evenings. It relied on a couple of unqualified care assistants who could not do things like give pain relief – and the pain relief was only available in another part of the hospital, which dealt with bowel diseases.

My son was eventually transferred to a hospice where he spent his last 24 hours, and this was the only place he had decent care and attention. The care from the NHS was wanting from start to end. I would not want anyone else to go through this, but I fear that this is the norm nowadays. The NHS needs a major reorganisation to benefit patients and to take social care into account.
Jill Whitehead
Sutton, London