
We can consider all of these factors – all of which deserve attention.īut in terms of a broad, overall cost, a report by the Modern Society Initiative and the Healthcare Workers’ Foundation (MSI / HWF) has attempted to find one.Īsk questions, comment and like this article below! Share your thoughts, add your opinion in the comments below. These could include an initial deficit in terms of productivity while a new person gets accustomed to a new role, or increased absence of colleagues who become overstretched and overworked. The financial figures were shocking and measures were immediately introduced by the Government to curb the spend.īy 2018 the NHS had managed to cut spend on agencies by £1.2bn.īut beyond that, there are what could be termed secondary costs. The latest figures show NHS trusts in England spent £1.9bn on locum staff in just three months this summer. The following is a quote from the BBC at the time: Reports in The Telegraph at that time estimated billions in revenue each year were paid to nursing agencies to supply NHS-trained staff back to itself. Then there’s the well-publicised cost of interim bank or agency staff to cover for the loss.įrom 2015, following some eye-watering headlines about the revenues of agencies supplying Nurses to the NHS, action was taken (leading in no small part to the creation of The NHS People Plan). That’s primarily because an employee’s value is complex – as is the cost of replacing them. So, the evidence is clear: the number of NHS staff leaving (including Nurses) is high.Įstimating the total financial cost is very challenging. A Nuffield Trust report explained its figures were roughly the same as pre-pandemic levels, and that Covid only accounts for 14% of the Nurses who left the profession.) (And the numbers can't be put down to the pandemic. The NMC's figures for May 2022 showed a 13% increase in the number of Nurses leaving the register in the last year over the previous year (25,219). The NHS SBS put the turnover rate of Nurses at a typical Trust at 12%. The Guardian put the number of people leaving the NHS at 400 per week.

Putting an exact figure on the cost of staff turnover is difficult. 1.4 million = NHS days lost in April 2019 due to absence (Kingsfund) How Much Does Losing Staff Cost The NHS?.25,219 = Nurses who left the register in year to March 2022 (NMC).

1 in 10 = NHS nursing roles unfilled (39,652) (Guardian).110,000 = NHS posts unfilled (Guardian).300 = number of Nurses average Trust must recruit each year (NHS).400 = number of staff the NHS loses each week (Guardian).10-12% = typical turnover rate of Nurses at a large acute Trust (NHS).No.1 for UK nursing, care & healthcare jobs. To truly understand and articulate why retention is such an enormous issue for our healthcare system, we have to recognise the cost of getting it wrong.ġ000s of jobs for Nurses & Care Professionals. Recruitment can't solve the crisis, despite various Government pledges about hiring tens of thousands of Nurses. Recruitment is one side of the coin, retention the other. It causes Nurses' own health to be impacted, and is a major cause of staff turnover, exacerbating the problem.

The overall NHS staff shortage is put at 110,000 posts unfilled, including 40,000 nursing vacancies.

Staffing is one of the NHS’ primary concerns.
