Responding to the latest annual registration report from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said:

“These figures show the continued rise in the numbers of both UK and internationally trained nurses and midwives joining the register between April 2023 and September 2024, with nearly 60,000 new nursing and midwifery professionals joining the register.

“Employers will welcome this growth which supports the aim of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan and, in particular, the sustained investment there will be in growing undergraduate and degree apprenticeship routes into careers in nursing, midwifery and health visiting.

“But it is worrying that a fifth of people leaving the register did so within 10 years of joining, meaning people are cutting short their careers in the NHS and we are losing invaluable experience.

“That is why it is so important we continue to improve working conditions to make sure new graduates and existing staff want to stay in the NHS. Retention will be key in the short term to preventing pressures from worsening and ensuring the recruitment base we are looking to build from has solid foundations.”