Wes Streeting must stop the exodus of nurses from the NHS or Labour’s healthcare plans will be ‘impossible to deliver’, experts say

Labour’s healthcare plans will be ‘impossible to deliver’ unless they can stem the mass exodus of nurses from the profession, experts say.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is warning ministers they are facing a ‘perfect storm’ with more staff leaving and fewer people joining the profession, putting patient care at risk.

Plans to modernize the NHS and shift care to the community will require tens of thousands of extra nurses to work in local communities outside hospitals.

But analysis of the latest data from the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) shows that there are significantly more nurses quitting within a few years of joining the profession.

Dissatisfaction with pay is likely to have grown since Labor promised pay rises to doctors and train drivers, both significantly higher than those offered to nursing staff.

NHS workers at the Royal College of Nursing and Unite will strike in May 2023. The RCN has warned of a ‘perfect storm’ with more staff leaving and fewer people joining the profession

Health Minister Wes Streeting. The government has been urged to substantially increase wages to make nursing more attractive and boost recruitment

The college predicts that more than 11,000 nurses will quit within ten years of qualifying – equivalent to the entire workforce of district nurses, health visitors and school nurses in England.

The RCN analyzed the latest NMC data of UK-trained nurses leaving the register in England. Between 2021 and 2024, the number of people leaving within ten years of registration has increased by 43 percent, while the number of people leaving within five years has increased by 67 percent.

It says the government must now substantially increase wages to make nursing more attractive and waive graduate loans for nurses who agree to continue working in the NHS and public sector.

This would boost recruitment and retention and alleviate staff shortages, they say, with more than 32,000 nursing posts currently unfilled in England.

Professor Nicola Ranger, secretary general and chief executive of the RCN, said thousands of nurses are quitting early because they are burned out, underpaid and demoralized.

She said: “It’s a perfect storm for ministers as thousands leave the profession early and student recruitment collapses.

“If no action is taken, the shift from hospital to community will be impossible.”

She added: ‘The Health Secretary urged staff to stay and help him reform the NHS. He has to give them a reason to stay. We urgently need new investment in nursing, including through better wages.

‘It is crucial to forego the loans of those committed to a nursing career in the NHS and public sector. The government cannot afford to wait.”

The number of UK-trained nurses leaving the Nursing Midwifery Council register in England within ten years has risen from an estimated 1,607 to 2,295 between 2021 and 2024 (file photo)

The number of UK-trained nurses leaving the NMC register in England within ten years has risen from an estimated 1,607 to 2,295 between 2021 and 2024.

The number who left within five years rose from an estimated 697 to 1,166 – an increase of 67 percent, the RCN said.

According to the analysis, a further 11,307 people will leave the profession by 2029, while the number of people joining the profession has also fallen by 40 percent in some parts of the country.

In September, two-thirds of the RCN’s 145,000 members said the 5.5 percent pay this year was not enough and called for a “much higher” increase.

The council and other royal colleges have also called for a House of Commons investigation into what they call “unrealistic staffing plans” by the new government.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘This Government has inherited a workforce that has been undervalued for years, leaving them burnt out and demoralised. That is why we have accepted the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies to award NHS staff an above-inflation pay rise.

“It will take time, but together we will restore and rebuild our NHS so that it is a service workforce we can be proud to serve again.”