The NHS is "haemorrhaging" nurses with one in 10 leaving
the NHS in England each year, figures show.
More than 33,000 walked away last year, piling pressure on
understaffed hospital wards and community services.
The figures - provided to the BBC by NHS Digital -
represent a rise of 20% since 2012-13, and mean there are
now more leavers than joiners.
Nurse leaders said it was a "dangerous and downward
spiral", but NHS bosses said the problem was being
tackled.
The figures have been compiled as part of an in-depth look
at nursing by the BBC.
We can reveal:
More than 10% of the nursing workforce have left NHS
employment in each of the past three years
The number of leavers would be enough to staff more
than 20 average-sized hospital trusts
More than half of those who walked away in the last
year were under the age of 40
Leavers outnumbered joiners by 3,000 last year, the
biggest gap over the five-year period examined by
the BBC
Brexit may have had an impact - the number of EU
nurses leaving has trebled since 2012-13 to nearly
4,000 last year
The number of joiners has halved since the EU
referendum - 2,800 started NHS jobs last year
Nurses are being pulled off research work, special
projects and admin roles to plug the gaps
Other parts of the UK are also experiencing problems
retaining nurses.
In Northern Ireland and Scotland, the leaver rates are
rising. In the most recent years, 7.5% of nurses left NHS
employment in Northern Ireland and 7.2% did so in
Scotland. But in both nations, the number of joiners
outnumbered leavers.
In Wales there were more leavers than joiners, according
to Freedom of Information reports.
'I can't work in the NHS any more'
One of the nurses who has left the NHS is Mary Trevelyan.
She was working as a staff nurse in a London hospital, but
quit last year after the pressures of the job left her
stressed and depressed.
She had only worked in the NHS for two-and-a-half years.
"I want to be a great nurse and I want to give my patients
my best, but I feel that I can't do that at the moment
because we're just too short-staffed, too busy, there are
far too many things for us to be doing.
"I want to work for the NHS, it's such a brilliant thing, [but]
I don't think I can."
She is now living with her family in Cornwall. She says
she has not decided what to do next, but is considering
moving abroad.
"A few of my friends have gone. I think they've just got a
better quality of life nursing overseas, which is very sad."
Where are the nurses going?
The figures do not show where these nurses went, although
the BBC has been told the private sector, including
agencies, drug firms and hospitals, is particularly popular.
But the figures will also include those moving abroad or
leaving nursing altogether to pursue other careers.
A fifth of leavers in the past year were over 55 - the age at
which nurses can start retiring on a full pension.
Royal College of Nursing head Janet Davies said: "The
government must lift the NHS out of this dangerous and
downward spiral.
"We are haemorrhaging nurses at precisely the time when
demand has never been higher.
"The next generation of British nurses aren't coming
through just as the most experienced nurses are becoming
demoralised and leaving."
She said nurses needed a pay rise and more support if the
vacancy rate - currently running at one in nine posts -
was not to increase further.
"Most patient care is given by NHS nurses and each time
the strain ratchets up again they are the ones who bear
the brunt of it," she added.
How the NHS is trying to stop the exodus
The regulator, NHS Improvement, is rolling out a retention
programme to help the health service reduce the number
of leavers.
More than half of hospitals and all mental health trusts are
getting direct support.
Master classes are also being organised for all directors of
nursing and HR leads.
The support is prompting hospitals to adopt a range of
initiatives.
Some have introduced internal "transfer" systems, allowing
nurses to move jobs more easily, and mentoring schemes
have been started for newly qualified nurses, while in some
places, staff can ask for "itchy feet" interviews where they
get the opportunity to talk to bosses about why they might
leave.
Others have introduced staff awards and worked with local
businesses to offer workers discounts and benefits at
shops and gyms.
But Ruth May, executive director of nursing at NHS
Improvement, admitted more needed to be done to keep
staff.
"Clinical workers are the NHS's greatest asset," she
added.
The government is also increasing the number of nurse
training places by 5,000 this year - a rise of 25%.
But it will be three years before these nurses graduate.
Does the leaver rate matter?
The Department of Health and Social Care in England has
been quick to point out that the number of nurses
employed by the NHS has risen.
They have picked May 2010 - the point when the coalition
government was formed - as the starting point, claiming
there are "11,700 more nurses on our wards".
That relates to the rise in hospital nurses - up from
162,500 full-time equivalents.
But if you look at the entire nursing workforce, the
numbers have only risen by 3,000 to 283,853 on the latest
count - a rise of less than 1%.
The population will have grown by 5% during this period,
according to the Office for National Statistics.
And if you look at nearly any measure of NHS demand -
from GP referrals and diagnostic tests to emergency
admissions and A&E visits - the increase is somewhere
between 10% and 20%.
What is more, if you take the last 12 months, the number
of nurses has started falling and the number of vacant
posts is rising.
Even taking into account the rising number of nurses in
training, the health service will only be able to ensure it
has enough nurses by tackling retention.
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