- In the year to April 2020, the number of nurses in the
NHS in England increased by 13,502
- The number of doctors increased by 7,890
- All professionally qualified clinical staff, doctors,
nurses, paramedics and support to clinical staff are at
record levels
Responding to today’s NHS workforce statistics, Health and
Social Care Secretary said:
It’s fantastic that there are now over 13,500 more nurses
and over 7,800 more doctors working in our NHS compared
to last year.
This pandemic has shown how proud the entire country is
of all our brave health and care workers, and what an
essential role they play in society.
We made the commitment of 50,000 more nurses by end of
this Parliament, and I’m determined we will meet it.
Earlier this month the latest UCAS statistics revealed a
16% rise in applicants for nursing and midwifery courses in
England, the second year-on-year increase. The Nursing and
Midwifery Council (NMC) has also
reported its largest ever annual increase of registered
nursing and midwifery professionals, with around 18,370
more on the permanent register to work in the UK compared
to a year ago.
On Tuesday the government announced a 2.8% pay
rise for NHS doctors and dentists, backdated to April
2020, accepting in full the recommendations of the Review
Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration.
Separate figures released on Tuesday by Health Education
England also show the number of GP
trainees in England have risen for the third year
running, with recruitment up 15% compared to the same
point last year.
The figures for April include some former healthcare
professionals who bravely volunteered to return to the
frontline during the pandemic. April figures also show that
442 returners were identified, of which there are 82
doctors and 112 nurses and health visitors. Not all
returners are reflected in the monthly workforce stats as
they could have been employed on fixed-term, honorary or
bank contracts, or via NHS Professionals.
Today NHS Digital has published its monthly NHS
workforce data for April 2020.
Over the last year (April 2019 to April 2020) the number of
nurses has gone up by 13,582: from 282,506 to 296,008.
Over the last year (April 2019 to April 2020) the number of
doctors has gone up by 7,890: from 112,304 to 120,194.
April 2020 figures also show that 442 ‘returners’ were
identified through the ‘Return to NHS – COVID-19’ code. Of
these, there are 82 doctors and 112 nurses and health
visitors.
Figures released by Health Education England show there
have been 3,441 acceptances onto GP specialty training in
2020, compared with 2,891 at the same stage in 2019.
Student nurses do not have full registration with the
NMC, and
so are counted as ‘support to clinical staff’. They are not
included in the ‘nurses’ count. Medical students are on the
same standing as Foundation 1 doctors, and so are counted
as ‘doctors’ in the statistics.
NHS Professionals is an organisation in the United Kingdom
that supplies temporary staff to the NHS.
