Staff retention scheme rolled out by NHS

A scheme that has helped keep more than a 1,000 nurses, midwives and other clinicians in the NHS will be rolled out to cover staff working in general practice as well as hospitals.

Over the last two years, the National Retention Programme (NRP) has seen experts work with 145 NHS trusts to help them find was to retain staff and figures for the first 15 months shows that more than 1,100 who would have left decided to stay. This means the equivalent of 800 fewer full time nurses having left the NHS since the start of the scheme.

The NRP programme is now being rolled out to other trusts and expanded into general practice as part of the NHS People Plan, NHS England chief executive Simon Staevens will tell the King’s Fund think-tank’s annual leadership and management summit in London.

NHS England says that a ‘transfer window’ will let staff move within the NHS between areas while developing new skills. Rewards from local businesses, such as discount gym membership and targeted mentoring for new joiners, are among the incentives used to keep them.

Stevens is expected to say: “As Europe’s largest employer with 350 different types of job opportunitiy, the NHS has always been an attractive career option for caring, skilled and determined staff.  Three quarters of our staff are women but only half say the NHS is flexible enough as an employer. So as well as a need for action on areas such as pensions, it’s right that local NHS employers are now themselves increasingly taking common sense action to support, develop and retain their staff.”

Prerana Issar, NHS Chief People Officer, said: “With staff turnover at a five-year low, it’s clear that the NHS is competing well with other employers to retain the nurses, midwives and therapists that our patients depend on. The National Retention Programme has had a promising start and we are now looking to roll out this scheme to other Trusts and into general practice. Getting the right workforce is not just about the number of people we bring in, but keeping and rewarding the team we have.”