NURSES and midwives have once again warned of the looming recruitment and retention crisis in the profession, with fresh figures showing that the NHS is struggling to attract British workers. 

The warning from the Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of Midwives comes as official stats show the registered number of British-educated nurses and midwives has fallen.

Policymakers have been urged to consider measures such as student loan forgiveness schemes to ensure there are enough home-grown staff.

The latest mid-year report from the Nursing & Midwifery Council shows there were a record 841,367 professionals on the register at the end of September — up 14,949 since March and 22 per cent higher than March 2017 — but the increase has been driven by overseas recruits.

The council said growth has been upheld by two pillars in the past seven years: a steady pattern of domestic recruitment and a significant rise in overseas joiners. But it said international recruitment could be starting to slow, with 2,573 overseas staff leaving the register, a 33 per cent rise.

Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, called the figures “bad news for patients.”

She said: “Nurse recruitment is slowing, the numbers of new starters is falling and we are witnessing a devastating increase in people leaving within five years of joining.

“At a time of widespread vacancies, these trends are incredibly worrying for our NHS and the people that rely on its care.”

The Royal College of Midwives has described the 12.5 per cent drop in UK-educated midwives joining the register for the first time as significant given the understaffing challenges blighting maternity services.

Senior fellow at the Nuffield Trust think tank Dr Billy Palmer said: “The UK’s nursing and midwifery workforce is increasingly inexperienced and facing deeply worrying shortages in important areas, with learning disability nursing numbers still lower than five years ago.

“We have warned the NHS is failing to attract home-grown nurses, with new domestic joiners having previously fallen by more than 6,000 over two years.

“Now the heavy reliance on overseas joiners continues, with nearly half of new nursing and midwifery registrants educated outside of the UK.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Nurses have been overworked for years, leaving them burnt out and demoralised. That’s why we accepted the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies to award them and other NHS staff an above-inflation pay rise.”