Nurse shortage 'is likely to get worse' because a third of staff are likely to retire within the next decade while one in ten posts are unfulfilled

  • Report warns nursing shortage will continue and may even get worse 
  • Almost one third of nurses are over 50 and likely to retire in next ten years 
  • Institute for Employment Studies warns foreign nurses will not plug gaps 

The nursing shortage will continue for years and may get even worse, a report warns.

Almost a third of nurses are over 50 and many will retire within the next ten years.

The Institute for Employment Studies pointed out that already 1 in 10 nursing posts are unfilled, but this is likely to increase.

And its authors warned that the NHS’s increasing reliance on foreign nurses would not be enough to plug gaps on wards.

The Institute for Employment Studies pointed out that already 1 in 10 nursing posts are unfilled, but this is likely to increase (file photo)

The Institute for Employment Studies pointed out that already 1 in 10 nursing posts are unfilled, but this is likely to increase (file photo)

The crisis has come about because the Government slashed the number of nurse training posts between 2009 and 2013 by 17 per cent.

But this coincided with a sudden increase in demand on wards, partly due to the aging population as well as fresh concerns that patients were being neglected.

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

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

She also pointed out that many European nurses would be put off by the UK withdrawing from the EU.

‘The Government needs to act now to ensure that the UK has a domestic supply of nurses to fill these future posts. This will require adequate and sustained investment in workforce planning,’ she said

A spokesman from the Department of Health (pictured) in England pointed out there were 11,000 more nurses on our wards than there were in 2010 and training numbers were increasing

A spokesman from the Department of Health (pictured) in England pointed out there were 11,000 more nurses on our wards than there were in 2010 and training numbers were increasing

Janet Davies, General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing said: ‘This report makes sobering reading and it is clear that without urgent action the UK is heading for a major nursing shortage.

‘Thanks to years of short-term thinking, the UK is completely unprepared to deal with the challenges posed by an ageing workforce, increasing demand and now the uncertainty caused by leaving the EU.’

A spokesman from the Department of Health in England pointed out there were 11,000 more nurses on our wards than there were in 2010 and training numbers were increasing.

He added: ‘As the Health Secretary has already said, EU workers are a crucial part of our NHS and the training and retention of home-grown nurses is a top priority for this government.’