Nurse numbers not a problem, say NHS bosses

28 Apr 05
NHS Employers has dismissed claims that the health service is heading for a nurse staffing crisis.

29 April 2005

NHS Employers has dismissed claims that the health service is heading for a nurse staffing crisis.

The employers' organisation hit out after the nurses' union leader warned the NHS would have to double the number of nurses in training by 2014 in order to replace those leaving the service.

At the Royal College of Nursing annual congress in Harrogate this week, delegates were told the numbers leaving the profession rose to 35,000 last year but only 20,000 British nurses joined the professional register.

Recruits from the Philippines, South Africa and India are making up much of the shortfall but the RCN said this was not sustainable, especially in the face of competition for nurses from health care providers in the US.

The RCN said almost a quarter of nurses may retire over the next ten years and called on the Department of Health to increase training places to 40,000 a year.

'The government is not paying enough attention to retention,' said RCN general secretary Beverly Malone. 'They are coming in the front door, but they are falling out the back.'

However, NHS Employers deputy director Alastair Henderson said the claims were an 'annual ritual' that accompanied the conference.

Henderson said: 'Nursing numbers and the number of training places available to nurses rise every year and, while there will always be some turnover, overall, the situation is improving.

'I am not underestimating the challenge we face but our energies need to be focused on making the NHS an even better employer, not on undermining it.'

He added that the new pay system, Agenda for Change, created a better pay and career structure for nurses, while the Improving Working Lives initiative was making the NHS a better place to work. The healthy workplaces programme was improving health and safety.

Between September 2003 and 2004, there was a net increase of 11,156 qualified nurses and midwives, to 397,515. In the year to March 31, 2005, 33,280 nurses and midwives registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council for the first time, of whom 20,588 qualified in the UK.

Henderson said: 'Retention is recognised as a crucial part of the solution of staffing our NHS, and employers across the health service are working to make the NHS a more attractive employer so that staff will want to stay.'

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