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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Denis Campbell Health policy editor

Numbers of nurses and midwives leaving NHS highest for four years

NHS hospital ward
The NHS in England has almost 40,000 nursing posts and more than 8,000 posts for doctors unfilled. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

More than 27,000 nurses and midwives quit the NHS last year, with many blaming job pressures, the Covid pandemic and poor patient care for their decision.

The rise in staff leaving their posts across the UK – the first in four years – has prompted concern that frontline workers are under too much strain, especially with the NHS-wide shortage of nurses.

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