New data published by NHS England show there were 51,245 additional nurses in September 2023 compared to 2019. This means the number of nurses have increased from 300,904 in 2019 to over 352,000 – hitting the government’s manifesto commitment to recruit an additional 50,000 nurses six months early.
This is the largest ever sustained growth in the NHS nursing workforce, with the expanded workforce delivering hundreds of thousands of extra appointments, helping to tackle waiting lists and improve access for patients.
In the North East and North Cumbria NHS, the overall workforce for the first time ever now numbers more than 91,000, up from 88,780 in November 2022 and 86,121 in November 2021.
Dr Neil Hudson MP said:
"Our Conservative Government has surpassed its own targets, expanding the nursing workforce to more than 50,000 - but we won't stop there.
"For local people this will go a long way to cutting waiting lists and giving patients the vital care they need.
"And to all the incredible nurses working across our health service, on behalf of my constituents I'd like to express my sincere thanks for all the critical work you do caring for the nation."
Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins added:
"There are 50,000 extra nurses in the NHS caring for our loved ones, delivering extra appointments and improving access for patients.
"We have delivered on our promise but we won’t stop here. The first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will help to retain our current workforce, reform clinical practice, and deliver the biggest training expansion in NHS history, almost doubling the number of adult nurse training places by 2031.
"These additional nurses will help support cutting waiting lists – which is one of our five priorities – and getting patients the care they need, when they need it."
Building on this achievement, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will further expand the nursing workforce, with additional training numbers, improved retention and the introduction of new roles to support our hard-working nurses.
The 50,000 nurses commitment has been achieved through boosting training and education routes into nursing, ethically recruiting internationally and actions to improve the retention of the existing workforce. This includes a financial support package for nursing students – the NHS Learning Support Fund - providing eligible nursing, midwifery and allied health professions students with non-repayable grants of at least £5,000 per academic year to ensure course sustainability.
The data also show there are over 1.3 million staff working in NHS Trusts and other core organisations in England, 68,900 (5.6%) more than a year ago.
There are almost 7,300 (5.6%) more doctors in the NHS compared to September last year.
