MINISTERS were urged to “fix a broken nurse-education model” today after a survey found most people think nurses and careworkers are paid too little.

Six in 10 in people Britain think nurses are not paid enough, up 3 per cent from April 2023, the Ipsos poll found.

For careworkers, the figure was 71 per cent, up 8 per cent.

Royal College of Nursing general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “The public is right that nursing staff are paid too little, and it’s why they rejected the government’s pay award. 

“The government wants to reform a ‘broken NHS,’ but it cannot do that without addressing the crisis in nursing. If not, the NHS and social care will continue to be racked by unsafe staffing levels.” 

The poll found that 41 per cent of people backed last month’s decision by RCN members in England to reject the government’s 5.5 per cent pay award.

RCN analysis of Ucas data meanwhile has found the number of people studying to become nurses fell by up to 40 per cent in every region in England.

Prof Ranger said: “The prospect of huge debt and lack of financial support is putting off the nurses of the future, threatening to leave patients without the highly trained nursing professionals they desperately need.

“Nursing is an incredible career, but to fix a broken NHS, the government must fix a broken nurse-education model.”

The Department of Health & Social Care said: “This government wants to work with nurses to take the NHS from the worst crisis in its history, to get it back on its feet and make it fit for the future.”