The number of European nurses who left the NHS in the West Midlands is increasing. For the first time since 2012, the number of European nurses who left is higher than those who joined between 2016 and 2017.
According to data released by the NHS yesterday, 324 European nurses joined the organisation, a number far lesser than the 444 nurses who left. This reflects a 45 percent decrease in the former.
In 2015-16, there were 594 European nurses in the NHS while the numbers stood at 744 in 2014-15.
The important statistic here, however, is the loss of nurses that the NHS is facing in the West Midlands. In 2016-17, 3,445 nurses left the organization as opposed to only 3,188 joining.
“These are disappointing, but not surprising, figures. The Government must lift the NHS out of this dangerous and downward spiral,” said Janet Davies, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing.
“We already know there are 40,000 unfilled nurse jobs and things continue to head in the wrong direction. There cannot be safe care for patients while the Government continues to allow nursing on the cheap,” she added.
This comes after the Nursing and Midwifery Council , released data in June 2017 that showed hundreds of nurses and midwives leaving the UK each month since the Brexit vote. The data also showed that in April 2016 1,154 new nurses joined the NMC for the first time. However, that number fell to just 46 in April 2017.
