Yahoo Finance NHS suffers mass exodus as nurses and midwives leave the profession in droves
More nurses and midwives are leaving the profession than joining – for the first time in almost a decade.
Official figures show that the disparity is most marked among UK workers, who make up the largest number of people on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register.
In 2016/17, 29,434 UK nurses and midwives left the register, up from 19,818 in 2012/13, and 45% more UK registrants left than joined last year.
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Jackie Smith, NMC chief executive and registrar, said: “At a time of increased pressure on the healthcare workforce to deliver quality patient care, we hope our data will provide evidence to support government and employers to look in detail at how they can reverse this trend.”
The data also shows that the numbers of nurses and midwives leaving the register before retirement age appears to be increasing.
Excluding those who retire, the average age of the rest of those leaving the register has reduced steadily over time from an average of 55 years old in 2013 to 51 years of age in 2017.
The data shows that rates of leaving are increasing across all age groups below 60 years of age. This is particularly noticeable for those aged under 40.
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“Nursing and midwifery are widely acknowledged to be ageing professions, with significant numbers on the register coming up to retirement age,” added Jackie Smith.
“While there’s no denying this is true, our figures show that people below retirement age are leaving in increasing numbers.”
In an earlier survey to find out why people were leaving, the NMC learned the top three reasons were:
Working conditions – for example staffing levels, workload – 44%
A change in personal circumstances – for example, ill-health, childcare responsibilities – 28%
Disillusionment with the quality of care provided to patients – 27%
Janet Davies, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the profession was suffering because of government policy.
“The average nurse is £3,000 worse off in real terms compared with 2010,” she said. “The 1% cap means nursing staff can no longer afford to stay in the profession.”
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The NMC figures come in the wake of a raft of negative headlines for the NHS. In April, a leaked government document predicted the health service would be 42,000 nurses short within six years of Brexit as EU and non-EU workers snubbed Britain.
And, last month, it was revealed the number of nurses from the European Union registering to work in the UK fell by 96% since the Brexit vote.
Figures collated by the Nursing & Midwifery Council showed that the number of new applicants from the EU fell from 1,304 in July last year to just 46 in April this year.
The Department of Health said it was fully aware of the need to retain staff and pointed out the launch of a national programme to provide support to nurses.
