Pay warning as government declares nurse recruitment on track

A progress report said more than 27,000 additional nurses were now working in the NHS in England. It also outlined how the government intends to hit the 50,000 target.

Prime minister Boris Johnson (pictured) said: ‘It’s fantastic to see the progress we have made towards our manifesto commitment of delivering 50,000 more nurses by 2024. Nurses are the absolute backbone of our NHS, without whom we would have been lost throughout the pandemic and who will be vital in helping the NHS tackle the Covid backlogs. This government will continue to do everything we can to recruit and retain even more nurses and to support our NHS.’

In its 2019 general election manifesto, the government pledged that there would be 50,000 more nurses in England by the end of March 2024. Since, it has clarified that this is 50,000 additional full-time equivalent (FTE) nurses compared with 30 September 2019. A nurse working part-time will count as less than one FTE, depending on how much they work.

Nursing associates, midwives, and allied health professionals, as well as nurses working in social care and non-NHS providers, do not count towards the total.

The report said that in September 2019 there were 300,904 FTE nurses in NHS providers and GP settings. To reach the target, the total in March 2014 should be at least 350,904. It stood at 327,907 in December 2021.

The report concedes that its figures are estimates and subject to change. With many nurses working part-time, or likely to retire or leave the NHS either temporarily or permanently, the service must recruit or retain more than 50,000 to meet the target. The government hopes to achieve this through domestic and international recruitment – up to 75,000 more trained domestically and up to 57,000 recruited internationally – and retaining existing staff (between 3,000 and 9,000 staff) by addressing issues causing them to consider leaving.

The report said the international recruitment drive could be scaled up as part of efforts to deal with any shortfalls.

The government said it would boost staff retention by making the NHS ‘the best place to work through providing health and wellbeing initiatives, expanding flexible working and putting a greater focus on career development – initiatives which are already helping to retain more existing nurses’.

The efforts include £37m to fund 40 staff mental health hubs nationwide, which sit alongside a dedicated helpline and a 24/7 text support services.

However, Unison head of health Sara Gorton (pictured) said the NHS and the government also had to address pay to keep nurses in the service.

‘Taking action on wellbeing, flexible working and career development for NHS staff are all important steps. But unless the retention package for nurses and other health workers includes measures to address their pay, then more will continue to leave,' she said.

‘Many staff are underpaid for the job they do. They undertake extra hours to keep the service going but aren’t properly rewarded. They’re also struggling to keep up with spiralling household bills. Ministers can take action on all these issues. Nurses and other health staff will be hoping the reforms start with an inflation-busting pay rise,’ she added.

The Royal College of Nursing said ministers could fill nursing vacancies by awarding staff a pay rise 5% above inflation – at the time it submitted its 2022/23 evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body the retail price index measure of inflation was 7.5%. The government indicated to the independent pay body last month that the NHS could afford only 2%-3%.

RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said: ‘If the government doesn’t listen to us, it will be to the detriment of patients when more and more nursing staff decide to leave the profession.

‘When a nurse or health care support worker feels no alternative but to leave, it becomes ever more challenging to provide highly effective care and treatment. They deserve salaries fitting of a safety critical profession.’

She added: ‘By summer, ministers must come back with a pay award that turns the tide on the years of unfilled nursing jobs and experienced professionals struggling to make ends meet.’