Crisis as more nurses leaving than joining

THE number of nurses and midwives quitting the profession has risen by 51% in just four years.

Figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council show for the first time in recent history, more midwives and nurses are leaving the register than are joining. Those leaving before retirement blame low pay and poor working conditions.

Between 2016 and 2017, 20% more people left the register than joined it, and among homegrown UK nurses, the figure was 45%. Janet Davies, of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Patients are paying the price for the Government’s failure to plan for the future... With more people leaving than joining, the NHS will be further than ever from filling the 40,000 vacant nurse jobs in England alone.”