More than 5,500 early-career nursing and midwifery staff have quit the profession in the last year, latest data from the UK nursing regulator has shown.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has today published its annual data report – once again showing a record number of registered nurses, midwives and nursing associates on the register.
There are now 826,418 professionals on the NMC register, with nearly 60,000 new joiners between 2023-24.
The number of new joiners remains split almost equally between UK educated joiners (30,363) and those educated internationally (29,628).
The newly released NMC data also shows that 27,168 professionals left the register early last year – a slight decrease on the year before.
However, one fifth (20.3%) of those who left the register did so within the first decade of joining their profession. The NMC said this compared to 18.8% in 2020-21 and reflected a rise over the last three years.
Further findings showed that half of leavers more widely (49%) had left earlier than expected, with retirement, health and burnout the three biggest factors for departure.
Strikingly, 76% of premature leavers cited poor colleague support, and 74% cited poor mental or physical health as their main reason for leaving.
Most leavers (85%) said that they had no intention of returning to their registered professions in the future.
Of those that would consider returning, one in five (21%) said they would only return to practise outside of the UK.
Responding to the report, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary and chief executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said: ‘It is deeply alarming that over 5,000 young early-career nursing staff chose to quit the profession last year, most vowing never to return.
‘When the vacancy rate is high and care standards often poor due to staffing levels, the NHS cannot afford to lose a single individual.
‘New ministers have to grasp the nettle and make nursing an attractive career.’
International recruitment
As of March 2024, 77% of professionals on the register were educated in the UK while 23% were internationally educated.
In the last twelve months, almost half (49.4%) of new NMC registrants were educated outside of the UK.
New joiners were split almost equally between UK and internationally educated joiners, at 30,363 and 29,628 respectively.
The NMC noted that the year-on-year growth was even higher among those who had joined from overseas, with an increase of more than 18% on the previous year. Almost half (14,615) of these new joiners were educated in India.
The top non-UK countries of education as of March 2024 continue to be Indian (+28.9%) and the Philippines (+7.9%).
However, the NMC has continued to see a rise in first time joiners from ‘red list’ countries, from which active recruitment is not permitted.
The regulator said in its report: ‘We remind employers and agencies to follow the relevant code of practice to help maintain ethical standards and support global health equity.’
Such countries include Ghana and Nigeria, both of which have seen a steady rise of registration into the UK.
The last year has seen a 44.2% rise in nursing and midwifery professionals from Ghana and a 28.3% rise in those educated in Nigeria.
Overall, professionals from black and ethnic minority backgrounds now make up nearly a third of the NMC register.
On Wednesday, nurses protested outside of the NMC headquarters in London, demanding change and better treatment of black and minority ethnic staff in light of the recent Rise Associates culture report into the regulator.
Professor Ranger of the RCN warned that international recruitment was ‘masking the failure to recruit enough domestic nursing staff, with equal numbers joining services from overseas’.
‘Our migrant nursing staff are incredible and vital to the delivery of our health and care services, but this overreliance is unsustainable and unethical.’
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: ‘It’s great to see more NHS nurses, midwives and nursing associates than ever before but the hard part now is holding on to them.
‘It’s a big worry that a survey of leavers found almost half quit the profession earlier than planned, many blaming burnout and poor physical and mental health.’
He added that with figures showing an increase in nursing staff from black and minority ethnic backgrounds it was ‘vital that we keep working hard to ensure that the NHS is a great place to work – inclusive, promoting equality and combatting discrimination’.
On Thursday it was revealed that applications to UK nursing programmes are down by more than a quarter in the last three years.
