Nurses in Wiltshire have welcomed Sarah Zanoni as the next regional director for the Royal College of Nursing in the South West.

Ms Zanoni began her career as a health care assistant in a small nursing home and loved caring so much that she trained as a nurse at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, in 1990. She has since become operational manager for the RCN South West and holds a master’s degree in Law and Employment Relations.

As she started her post, Ms Zanoni described nursing as a rewarding career that is currently undervalued by the Government and said the shortages of nurses must be addressed, with every NHS trust in the region struggling to fill posts.

Sarah Zanoni said: “This shortage is currently being managed by the goodwill of nurses on the frontline who work additional shifts and excess unpaid hours beyond their shift time to cover the gaps: but the NHS cannot continue to function on goodwill alone.

“The removal of the NHS bursary, Brexit, the Government enforced cap on nursing pay, reductions to pensions and poor working conditions are resulting in more people leaving the profession than joining it and this trend must be reversed.”

Ms Zanoni’s appointment comes after the retirement of Jeannett Martin from the Royal College of Nursing South West