FOR many years now agency staff have been used in NHS hospitals.

When youngsters are coming to the end of their school education, they are trying to work out what they want to do in life.

To encourage them into the NHS could a member of staff i.e. doctor, nurse and any other part of the NHS where staff is needed visit the schools and talk to the pupils about their job, what it entails, the satisfaction they get from it caring for people.

In the media, we only hear NHS staff are stressed and hospitals are pressurised to give timed care where sometimes it is impossible.

There is plenty of encouragement to go for uni, IT and other jobs, but a member of staff stood in front of pupils giving them a first-hand experience of their job and how it is possible to study for may just give some of our youngsters the push to be interested.

Of course, it is time the government put more money into extending hospitals and reopening convalescent homes for patients to gradually gain strength to go home instead of being "bed blockers" as they call them (a name I do not like).

Gloucester Road was a convalescent hospital freeing up beds in the main hospitals along with Christchurch and St Leonards. But just having one in the area would help I am sure.

The money they would save with payments to agencies, giving wages to full time nurses etc would go back into the pot.

All the government do is say an ambulance HAS to be at an incident in so many minutes, patients HAVE to be seen and treated in a certain length of time. Where would we be if we put the same time restraints on our members of parliament! Brexit for one thing.

Let's give our youngsters the outward looking guide of the NHS and get the NHS back on its feet.

STEPHANIE VINCENT

Tytherley Green, Bournemouth