The number of nurses leaving Swansea Bay University Health Board has exceeded the number joining by more than 300 over the last four years. The health board said it was working hard to recruit nurses, with many having arrived in hospitals in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot from overseas and more on their way.
In contrast, the number of doctors, dentists and allied therapists - a term comprising physiotherapists, podiatrists and paramedics, among others - rose slightly during the same period. The figures were provided by the health board in a response to a Freedom of Information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Health board officials said 1,585 nurses and midwives left Swansea Bay between 2019-20 and 2022-23, with the highest number - 491 - in 2021-22, which was the second year of the Covid pandemic. During that period 1,274 new nurses and midwives joined - 311 fewer. The figures exclude health care support workers.
