There are around 40,000 registered nursing vacancies across the NHS in England.
A new report has revealed dire shortages in the nursing workforce – even before the pandemic.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) report found longstanding issues with the recruitment and retention of nursing staff.
There are currently around 40,000 unfilled registered nursing vacancies across the NHS in England alone.
With one in five nursing registrants 56 years of age or over, the current crisis is only expected to worsen as they retire in the coming years.
Going into the COVID-19 pandemic, in January 2020, 73% of nursing staff surveyed by the RCN said staffing levels on their last shift weren’t sufficient to safely and effectively meet patients’ needs.
More than half (57%) felt patient care was compromised.
Only 56% of new people joining the UK nursing register in 2021 were educated and trained in the UK, exposing a longstanding over-reliance on international recruitment potentially at a cost to other countries needing to retain their workforce.
Past the point of crisis.
Only last week, the Heath Secretary announced plans to ramp up the international recruitment of nursing staff.
The report concludes that the nursing profession is “now well past the point of crisis”.
RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive Pat Cullen said: “The past two years have revealed the extent of how ill-prepared the UK was for the additional pressures on the health and care system during the pandemic.
“This mounting pressure continues to present grave risks to patients. However, the risks to nursing staff – and to recruitment and retention as these pressures continue – must not be underestimated.”
“We expect governments across the UK to take these risks to patient safety seriously,” added Pat. “They must take decisive action to grow the domestic nursing workforce significantly. Robust policy and investment measures are needed as a matter of urgency.
“As a minimum, every country in the UK must have accountability for the health and care workforce enshrined in legislation, and a government-funded health and care workforce plan, including fair pay for nursing staff.”
