Government blasted for 'retention crisis' as Labour analysis finds 200,000 nurses quit NHS since 2010
3 min read
The Government is being accused of driving a staff retention crisis as more than 200,000 nurses have quit the NHS since 2010, a new analysis from Labour has found.
The findings come ahead of a speech due to be made by Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth, where he is expected to commit a Labour government to spending £330 million on staff training and development.
The party’s fresh research finds a 55% increase in voluntary resignations from NHS workers since 2010/11, while the number of staff quitting due to poor work-life balance has hiked by 169% between 2011/12 and 2017/18.
The Labour frontbencher will warn the Government is failing in its duty to NHS staff, increasing the risk of walk-outs.
Speaking on Wednesday at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank, Mr Ashworth is expected to say: “It’s utterly staggering that our NHS has lost over 200,000 nurses under the Tories and that voluntary resignations from the NHS is up 55 per cent.
“We are facing a retention crisis in our NHS and standards which staff should expect – enshrined in the NHS Constitution – have simply been abandoned.
“After years of pay restraint, cuts to training budgets and growing pressures it is no wonder the NHS is facing chronic shortages of 100,000 staff. These shortages affect patient care every day as waiting lists grow and operations are cancelled.”
The Shadow Cabinet minister will also pledge to re-introduce nurse bursaries, boost investment in pay, guarantee training for staff hit by technological advances and greenlight work visas to anyone offered a job in the NHS.
The £330 million commitment to staff training also comes as a bid to top the Government's current £84 million pot, which Labour say represents just a third of the workforce development budget in 2014/15.
Mr Ashworth will add: "A Labour government will invest in NHS staff and help staff develop to meet the challenges of the future.
"It’s my ambition that the NHS becomes the best employer in the world.
"It’s not only the correct thing to do to improve the quality of care of patients, it’s in our economic interest as well."
But a Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Our Long Term Plan sets out how we will make the NHS the safest healthcare system in the world and ensure it is a consistently great place to work for our dedicated staff.
"There are over 15,800 more nurses on our wards since 2010, with 52,000 more in training - and we are improving staff retention by promoting flexibility, wellbeing and career development and helping more nurses return to practice.
"As well as providing funding to increase university training places, we will set out a full Workforce Implementation Plan later this year to ensure the NHS has the staff it needs for the future.”
The department added that NHS funding will increase by an extra £33.9bn a year in cash terms by 2023/24.
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