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Top nurses have said the government’s planned health service reforms “don’t stand a chance” if recruitment and retention problems in the profession are not addressed.
They issued the warning as new figures show the number of registered nurses and midwives in the UK has risen to a record high.
But experts say the workforce is “increasingly inexperienced”, faces worrying shortages and still relies heavily on overseas applicants.
Policymakers have been urged to consider measures such as student loan forgiveness schemes to ensure there are enough local staff.
The latest mid-year report from Breastfeeding and the Midwifery Council shows there were a record 841,367 professionals on the register at the end of September, an increase of 14,949 on the previous six months and 22% more than March 2017.
The NMC said growth has been supported by “two pillars” over the past seven years: a “steady pattern” of local recruitment and a “significant increase” in overseas workers.
The figures show that 14,780 UK-educated professionals joined the register between April and September, a drop of 1.8% on the previous six months, while 11,569 UK-educated workers left the register. up 1.6% on the figure reported in the six months to September 2023.
Meanwhile, the NMC said international recruitment “may start to slow down”.
Its figures show there were 12,534 internationally educated members on the register in the six months to September, down 16.6% on the same period last year. Some 2,573 international employees also left the register, an increase of 33%.
Kuljit Dhillon, interim chief executive of strategy and insights at the NMC, said: “Nursing and midwives are among the most trusted professions in the UK, so as we head into another tough winter, we hope there is some comfort in growth on our register to a record 841,000.
“At the same time, there are notes of caution in our data on international recruitment, which has been a pillar of labor force growth in recent years.
“We have seen a decline in internationally educated members and an even higher proportional growth in leavers, although it is important to view the leavers figures in the light of a growing register.”
However, Prof. Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), called the figures “bad news for patients”.
She said: “Nursing recruitment is slowing, new entrants are falling and we are seeing a devastating increase in people leaving within five years of joining. In a time of widespread job vacancies, these trends are incredibly troubling for ours NHS and the people who rely on her care. In health and care services, international recruitment was used to fill rotation gaps, but we are now seeing thousands of overseas staff choosing to go elsewhere.
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“This comes as the number of student nurses in the UK has fallen significantly again this year, signaling worse years to come. As demand for care grows, UK ministers need to recognize this as a perfect storm for patient safety and take action to improve recruitment and retention.
“Working for low pay in understaffed and under-resourced services is contributing to burnout, which is pushing highly skilled nursing staff out.”
“Across England we desperately need a loan forgiveness scheme to encourage local recruitment into the profession. The Government’s NHS reforms have no chance of being delivered without addressing these fundamentals.”
Dr Billy Palmer, senior fellow at the Nuffield Trust think tank, welcomed the growth of the register but said the workforce was facing shortages. He also described the figures as “a chronic symptom of an internal clinical education system that is not fit for purpose”.
Palmer said: “Nurses and midwives in the UK are increasingly inexperienced and face deeply worrying shortages in important areas, with the number of nurses with intellectual disabilities still lower than five years ago.”
One department of health The spokesman said: “Nurses have been overworked for years, leaving them burnt out and demoralised. That is why we have accepted the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies to reward them and other NHS staff with pay rises above inflation.
“We will work with staff to restore our health services and give the NHS the stability and security it needs.”
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