THE recruitment and retention of nurses in Guernsey should be reviewed, according to the general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing.
Dr Peter Carter also called for a reconsideration of the ‘deterrent’ five-year housing licence.

On his first visit to the island after his appointment a year ago, Dr Carter met Health and Social Services Department members, RCN representatives and student nurses to discuss issues concerning members.
‘It is an expensive place to live and the five-year licence is something that would be a deterrent for people thinking this might be a place to go,’ he said, ‘particularly for people with children and commitments.
‘The States of Guernsey would be well advised to see whether there are some exceptions to be made in terms of nursing.
‘We think that is not unrealistic,’ said Dr Carter.
He said the RCN believed the States should also look at local pay and time spent on RCN business.
‘We think your States would be well advised to give members of the RCN more paid time off in terms of responsibilities to the membership.’
The RCN has 500 members across Guernsey, Jersey and Alderney and is one of the largest professional unions of nurses and health-care support workers with 400,000 members.
Dr Carter said Guernsey’s health-care system could gain from consultation with the RCN.
‘We have a lot of expertise to offer in terms of workforce planning and how to motivate, retain and recruit high-quality staff.’
Dr Carter said members had also raised concerns about the state of Guernsey’s mental health law.
‘We support our members here and we think the island’s mental health service needs to be developed.’
The UK recently saw a complete overhaul of its mental health laws, on which the RCN had advised and consulted.
‘The island could tap into the knowledge of those experts to improve and bring Guernsey into the 21st century in terms of mental health law,’ said Dr Carter.
‘Members are very keen on that because many of them have worked abroad and they would like to see those high standards implemented locally.’