Nurse shortage ‘is likely to get worse’

BRITAIN’S shortage of nurses will con- tinue for years and may get even worse, a report warns.

The Institute for Employment Studies says one in ten posts are unfilled and this is likely to increase. Almost a third of nurses are over 50 and many will retire within the next ten years.

The crisis has come about because the Government has slashed the number of training posts by around 15 per cent since 2010.

The report’s authors warn that the NHS’s increasing reliance on foreign employees will not provide enough cover to fill staffing gaps on wards.

The shortage has coincided with a sudden increase in demand for services, partly due to an ageing population and growing concern among the relatives of patients that they may be neglected.

Many trusts are now having to recruit heavily from countries including Portugal, Spain, India and the Philippines or rely on expensive agency staff.

Rachel Marangozov, author of the report, said recruitment from overseas would ‘not be sufficient’ to plug the gap in the workforce.

She also pointed out that many European personnel would be put off by the UK withdrawing from the EU, adding: ‘The Government needs to act now to ensure that the UK has a domestic supply of nurses to fill these future posts.’

She said efforts to boost numbers ‘will require adequate and sustained investment in workforce planning.’

Janet Davies, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the situation was due to ‘years of short term thinking’. She added: ‘This report makes sobering reading and it is clear that without urgent action the UK is heading for a major nursing shortage.’

A Department of Health spokesman said there were 11,000 more nurses on wards than there were in 2010. He added: ‘EU workers are a crucial part of our NHS and the training and retention of homegrown nurses is a top priority.’