Poor staff retention levels linked to heart attack survival chances

More needs to be done to improve the staff retention levels of nurses as the numbers leaving positions is having an affect on heart attack survival rates, it has been suggested.

The Telegraph reports of findings published in the Journal of Political Ecology, which links the wages received by nurses to survival rates in patients with heart problems.

Researchers at the University of Bristol and the London School of Economics feel that an NHS hospital benefits from a seven per cent less risk of a heart attack taking place if staff are paid ten per cent more.

This is because institutions paying less are suffering from poor staff retention rates and are having to bring in less experienced staff members as their workforce move on to pastures new.

According to the publication, co-author professor Carol Propper, of the University of Bristol, said: "Our research is showing that keeping wages artificially low not only gives you recruitment and retention problems but also seems to spill over into quality and productivity problems."

Meanwhile, Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said earlier this year that a good pension scheme could help a company increase the chances of retaining staff. Back