starting a nursing agency in the uk

amberofamerica · Nov 30, 2005

Hi Mimmie,

I am a British nurse currently working in south carolina for O'Grady Peyton (part of the american mobile company), prior to this I had 14 years experience working within the National Health Service in England.

The best advice I can offer is you would need to pay particular attention to the benefits you would be able to offer to your nurses. In the U.K. the average nursing pay is approx £24,000 which works out to $42,000 per year plus weekend and night differential which is no less than time plus a third during the week and time plus two thirds for weekends.Paid time off in England is huge!...a registered nurse will have 8 weeks a year on full pay based on a full time post.Sick time is paid whether it is one day or six months. Also all nurses in England get six months full pay if ever they go off sick followed by a further six months on half pay if they are still off sick. Be aware also that the maternity benefits in England are excellent and nurses expect 6 months paid leave which is partly government paid.

I have to say when I was in England we never saw agency nurses in my hospital and I was there 14 years, agencies tend to be expensive so the hospitals avoid them. In past experience we used to offer our own staff a good overtime rate as even this was cheaper than using agency. I bet you are wondering why I gave up such a good job to come to America and lose all my perks from English nursing....I was sold on the idea of coming to America by an agency!....little did I know what I was giving up and am still undecided what to do after next summer about returning to the homeland as there is no agency in America that can match what I gave up.

I hope this helps

amberofamerica · Nov 30, 2005

Hi Mimmie,

I am a British nurse currently working in south carolina for O'Grady Peyton (part of the american mobile company), prior to this I had 14 years experience working within the National Health Service in England.

The best advice I can offer is you would need to pay particular attention to the benefits you would be able to offer to your nurses. In the U.K. the average nursing pay is approx £24,000 which works out to $42,000 per year plus weekend and night differential which is no less than time plus a third during the week and time plus two thirds for weekends.Paid time off in England is huge!...a registered nurse will have 8 weeks a year on full pay based on a full time post.Sick time is paid whether it is one day or six months. Also all nurses in England get six months full pay if ever they go off sick followed by a further six months on half pay if they are still off sick. Be aware also that the maternity benefits in England are excellent and nurses expect 6 months paid leave which is partly government paid.

I have to say when I was in England we never saw agency nurses in my hospital and I was there 14 years, agencies tend to be expensive so the hospitals avoid them. In past experience we used to offer our own staff a good overtime rate as even this was cheaper than using agency. I bet you are wondering why I gave up such a good job to come to America and lose all my perks from English nursing....I was sold on the idea of coming to America by an agency!....little did I know what I was giving up and am still undecided what to do after next summer about returning to the homeland as there is no agency in America that can match what I gave up.

I hope this helps