Using spare rooms in care homes as accommodation for nurses is just one idea in a set of plans to use affordable housing to attract more people to the profession.

Wellbeing project manager Paul Firth, 54, employed by the Suffolk and North Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB), is currently working on a multi-faceted project to tackle the issue of affordable housing for the nursing workforce.

Stowmarket Mercury: Wellbeing project manager Paul Firth, 54, employed by the Suffolk and North Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB),.Wellbeing project manager Paul Firth, 54, employed by the Suffolk and North Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB),. (Image: Paul Firth)

"It's quite a far-reaching project," said Mr Firth.

"We decided to focus on the nursing workforce because this is the area with the greatest need in terms of vacancies."

The first idea, though in the early stages of development, is one copied from similar schemes already in place in London.

"We're looking into unused care homes which have stopped trading since the pandemic or have additional space," said Mr Firth.

"We're thinking of potentially renting out rooms or entire floors because the facilities are already there."

He added that the ICB's Estates Teams are also linking in with voluntary organisations to provide a minibus service.

"People want to live within three to five miles of their workplace, but we recognise that accommodation within this radius comes at a premium," he said.

Providing transport could make the journey to work more feasible, while saving money on hospital-centric housing.

While both of these schemes are in the early development stages, one initiative has already taken off.

Just before Christmas, they launched a live marketplace in conjunction with Homestay.com.

This provides people who work within our region's ICB to look for accommodation through a house listing portal.

"Working as an ICB rather than as individual trusts has allowed us to move quite quickly," Mr Firth explained.

"We're one of the first in the country to have an exclusive marketplace."

Thus far, the portal has three 'hosts' and Mr Firth hopes that this number will expand in the coming weeks, to give a friendly welcome to NHS staff who are new to the area.

From November to February, Mr Firth's team are conducting a data collection exercise, in which they ask the nurses "what they really want" in terms of housing, in order to accommodate the "workforce of the future".