(Picture: PA Wire)
London has the biggest crisis in England in retaining nurses to deal with the Covid-19 backlog of NHS operations and treatment, a new study has revealed.
The analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) showed the capital had the highest leaving rate for nurses and midwives in the country.
Hundreds of thousands of Londoners are waiting for NHS care, some for lengthy periods.
The IFS research found nurse and midwife leaver rates were highest in London (0.96 per cent a month), while the lowest region, the North East, was at 0.62 per cent. Within the capital, there was also a wide range of leaving rates between trusts, with the highest level 1.24 per cent and lowest 0.71 per cent.
Four of the five health trusts with the highest leaving rates were located in London. The capital also had a high rate of leaving among healthcare assistants. The Conservative manifesto in 2019 committed to increase the number of nurses by 50,000 by 2024.
The IFS study stressed: “Demand for staff has only intensified in the wake of the pandemic and the subsequent backlog in elective care. In addition to hiring new staff, the retention of existing staff is crucial in ensuring adequate numbers of NHS staff.”
It said training was lengthy “and only a limited amount of staff can be recruited from abroad.” Brexit had led to health trusts finding it more difficult to retain EU staff.
There were nearly 10,000 vacancies in nursing posts in London, according to latest figures.
