'Stark' fall in EU nurse applications since Brexit

Figures have shown that the number of nurses registering to work in the UK has dropped by 96 per cent since last July.

Representing a ‘wake-up call’, the figures show that 1,304 nurses from the EU joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council register last July, compared to only 46 in April 2017, marking a 96 per cent fall.

With nurse vacancies already posing a large problem for the NHS, and many predicting staff shortages to worsen as Brexit negotiations begin, the figures compliment recent Royal College of Nursing research which said that the NHS was 40,000 nurses short of what was needed, with one in every nine posts vacant in England in May.

Obtained by the Health Foundation under the Freedom of Information Act, the figures show only the numbers applying to go on the register, not those necessarily employed b the NHS. Nonetheless, the figures provide an indication of the supply line from the EU which provides a significant proportion of the workforce.

Anita Charlesworth, director of research and economics at the Health Foundation, said: “Without EU nurses, it will be even harder for the NHS and other employers to find the staff they need to provide safe patient care. The findings should be a wake-up call to politicians and health service leaders.”

While the UK’s decision to leave the EU is undoubtedly the largest factor in the drop, the profession also believes that the introduction of English language testing for EU nurses is also likely to have played a role.