HOSPITAL bosses in Oxfordshire have welcomed a pay rise for NHS staff but warned it will not solve recruitment problems.

The £4.2bn deal, agreed by the government and unions today, will apply to more than 1.3 million staff, including nurses, porters and paramedics, and mean at least a 6.5 per cent wage increase over the next three years.

John Drew, Director of Improvement and Culture at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH), which has struggled to fill nursing vacancies that doubled between 2016 and 2017, said the rise would aid recruitment.

He admitted the expense of living in Oxford was a 'well-known' issue but said it was not the only problem for staff, explaining: "This will help but I don't think it will fully solve the issue, especially in Oxford.

"We've just published our annual staff survey and while affordability was brought up, things like transport links into the city were also a problem."

Student nurses who attended a career fair at the John Radcliffe Hospital today were cautiously optimistic about the proposals.

Belinda Otori, moving to the city later this year from Sheffield, said she was eager to see a rise before then.

The 25-year-old said: "I know it is an expensive area but my husband is going to be studying at the university so we don't have a choice about location."