NHS ENGLAND LOST 170K STAFF LAST YEAR DUE TO STRESS AND WORKLOAD

Sun 02 July 2023:

Last year, a record 170,000 staff departed England’s National Health Service (NHS) to deal with some of the toughest pressures ever witnessed in the country’s health system. According to a survey published on Saturday (July 1) by The Guardian, nearly 41,000 nurses were among those who quit their positions in NHS hospitals and community health services, the highest rate in at least a decade.

According to The Observer, the overall number of employees leaving increased by more than a quarter in 2022 compared to 2019.

Speaking to the publication, Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said, “Staff did brilliant work during the pandemic, but there has been no respite. The data on people leaving is worrying and we need to see it reversed.”

“We need to focus on staff wellbeing and continued professional development, showing the employers really do care about their frontline teams,” Sir Hartley added.

The Guardian report said that in the year leading up to December 31, 2022, nearly 170,000 staff left NHS service in hospitals, community health services, and other core health organisations, compared to 149,678 the previous year.

Experts believe 2022 may be a peak year for NHS departures because of those who may have deferred retirement because of the pandemic, but there has also been a surge in employees citing work-life balance as the reasons for quitting.

Govt vows huge recruitment drive for NHS

Last Friday, the government announced that the NHS would get over 300,000 staff under a new plan to deal with the chronic shortage of doctors and nurses. According to a report by the news agency AFP, the long-term workforce plan would include reducing the time doctors spend in medical school and training more homegrown staff, to improve staffing levels that are below the European average.

Sir Julian Hartley welcomed the workforce plan, particularly the expansion of apprenticeship routes for clinical staff and the ambition to train more staff and reduce reliance on international recruitment and agency workers, the report further said.

Currently, NHS England has 112,000 vacancies as it struggles to replace the large number of workers leaving the service. The government said the plan’s main goals are to train and retain more staff and reform working practices.

The government hopes to add an extra 60,000 doctors, 170,000 nurses and 71,000 health professionals by 2037.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

______________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent