Waste not, want not: Strategies to improve the supply of clinical staff to the NHS
Think tank: The Nuffield Trust
Author(s): Dr Billy Palmer; Lucina Rolewicz; Emma Dodsworth
September 28, 2023
This report from UK think tank the Nuffield Trust sets out the scale of NHS attrition and puts forward a 10-point plan to improve retention.
For every five nurse training places, only three full-time nurses join the NHS.
The rate of dropouts in the staffing pipeline from student to early-career clinician is worryingly high, with significant numbers opting out before or soon after joining the NHS, contributing to an understaffed health service under ever-greater strain.
This analysis sets out the scale of NHS attrition and puts forward a 10-point plan to improve retention, including a policy proposal to gradually write off clinicians’ student debt over 10 years.
