Record nurses join register but significant gaps remain in nursing workforce

Responding to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s annual registration report 2023, Nuffield Trust senior fellow Dr Billy Palmer said:

“A record number of nurses joining the UK register last year is very welcome, but underneath the headline, there is cause for concern. The increase in joiners is not equal among nursing professions nor across areas of the country and relies firmly on overseas recruitment. Specialist learning disability nurses have once again seen more leaving their ranks than joining in the last year and access to this care continues to suffer. 

“International recruitment alone is not a sustainable answer to ensuring we have the staff we need to keep services going. Even now, the NHS is competing with other health systems for overseas staff and in some cases, our working conditions, pay and career prospects are looking unfavourable to other countries.

“While efforts to reduce the number of nurses leaving are making some progress, more than half of the nurses that left the register did so earlier than they had planned. Aside from retirement, health, burnout, and exhaustion were among the most common reasons for leaving. The upcoming workforce plan must support employers to do more to reduce the record numbers of staff choosing to leave the NHS.”