Think tank analysis highlights nursing staffing crisis facing UK
Analysis from the International Longevity Centre – UK (ILC-UK) published today shows:
- Between September 2009 and September 2017, the number of nurses rose by 0.8%, while the numbers of people aged over-65 rose by 17.6% during roughly the same period.
- The number of nurses per 1,000 of the population has fallen considerably from its peak of 10.2 in 2005, to just under 8 in 2015. In contrast, other major economies such as the USA, Germany and France have all seen the number of nurses relative to the population rise.
- Between July and September 2017, over 34,000 nursing vacancies for full time jobs in England were posted (up 3,000 on the same time last year), amounting to almost 40% of overall vacancies (across the labour market as whole) advertised.
- An estimated 7% of nurses in the NHS are EU nationals, yet more and more are leaving the NHS. In 2016, only 12% of new nurses joining the NHS were from the EU. The year before this figure was 19%.
Further detail here.