Your right about vacancies but that has been a recent phenomenon, linked to Brexit among other issues. However vacancies in the NHS are endemic and in the past the stop gap was nurses from the Philippines etc. The lowest pay band for a nurse is just £20000 and many auxiliary staff are on less. Without excessive overtime their remuneration, given what their responsibilities are, is not generous.
I don’t disagree Daf but, as you will know, they don’t stay on £20k for long. Experienced nurses earn considerably more. Then, of course, there’s the pay increments structure that gives them increases that, unlike in the private sector, aren’t performance related. Plus, of course, the excellent pension scheme. Don’t get me wrong, they do a great job that, as I said earlier, most of us wouldn’t want to do, but I simply don’t buy the line that they are poorly paid. As I also said, Care Workers are a different matter altogether. Appalling pay and none of the benefits.