There are more nurses, midwives and nursing associates on the NMC register than ever: 826,418. That’s an increase of 37,723 (4.8 percent) compared to the same period last year, and 128,184 (18.4 percent) over the last five years.
This includes 765,051 nurses (+4.6 percent since 2023); 44,125 midwives (+5.8 percent); and 10,881 nursing associates (+16.6 percent). There are also 6,361 dual registrants who are both a nurse and midwife (-2.5 percent).
This growth is due, in large part, to the continuous rise in first-time joiners to the register – 59,991 in the last 12 months alone. That’s nearly 15 percent higher than the same period last year (52,193), and almost double the number of joiners compared to 2018-2019 (30,618). The number of UK and internationally educated joiners within the last year was almost equally split – 30,363 and 29,628, respectively.
The year-on-year growth is higher among international joiners, with 29,628 being an increase of more than 18 percent compared to the previous year. Almost half (14,615) of this year’s new joiners were educated in India. The steadily high number of international professionals reflects initiatives such as NHS England’s Maternity International Recruitment Programme which saw more than twice the number of midwives (711) joining from outside the UK compared to the previous year (348).
However, we continue to see proportional rises in first time joiners from several ‘red list’ countries from which active recruitment is not permitted. We remind employers and agencies to follow the relevant codes of practice to help maintain ethical standards and support global health equity.
Continued growth in international professionals, together with an ethnically diverse cohort of UK joiners means the profile of the register continues to change. Professionals from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds now make up nearly a third of the register.
Meanwhile, we’ve seen a slight decrease in leavers as a proportion of the register – from 4.2 percent in the year 2018-2019, to 3.4 percent in the last year.
However, data highlights that one fifth (20.3 percent) of the nurses, midwives and nursing associates who left the register over the last 12 months did so within the first ten years of joining their chosen profession.
Of the professionals who left the register, 7,647 completed our annual leavers’ survey. While retirement remains the top reason for leaving, professionals also cited poor health (both physical and mental), and burnout as the most common factors. Four in five of those citing poor mental health specifically, said their role negatively contributed to this.
While these reasons were consistent among the nursing and midwifery professions, staffing issues, concerns for quality of care and lack of colleague support were more common secondary drivers for midwives. Compared to nurses, midwives were also less likely to recommend nursing or midwifery as a career path.
Most leavers (85 percent) said they had no intention of returning to the professions in the future. Of those who said they might return, one in five said that they would only return to practise outside the UK. In line with findings from last year’s survey, around half of total respondents left earlier than planned - typically five years sooner than expected.
Source:- NMC
