Are we heading for a nurse and midwife crisis?

The media is full of reports that we are in, or heading towards, a nursing crisis. That is to say, a huge shortage of them. But are we really? We dive into the data to find out. First of all, we need to consider the shortage of nurses that already exists. There isn’t one definitive number for how many nurses we’re currently lacking. One figure frequently cited is 20,000, and analysis by the Health Service Journal said that last October 96% per cent of acute hospitals failed to provide the planned number of registered nurses to cover day shifts. So, what we can say is that we don’t currently have enough. The next question, then, is will this shortage get worse? Knowing how many nurses and midwives we’re going to need in the future is complicated, as it depends on the mix of health skills that will be needed. But with the growing population and the current shortage, the answer from most bodies who take an interest in this kind of thing is ‘definitely .’ We currently have 690,773 nurses and midwives who can practise in the UK. This number is based on data from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the regulator for nursing and midwifery professions in the UK. It includes nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses. Everyone in these professions legally has to sign up to the NMC register to practise in the UK, so it’s a good reflection of the current situation. The latest NMC report, which came out in July this year, makes for interesting r...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article P.S data health NHS nurse nurses Source Type: news