The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the government’s response to large numbers of people leaving nursing on 10th May 2023, during a debate on the sufficiency of the number of nurses in the NHS:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, the Royal College of Nursing has published figures showing that, between 2018 and 2022, 43,000 nurses left the nursing and midwifery register. We have seen this huge leaching of people moving out of nursing. What are His Majesty’s Government doing to listen to why these people are leaving and to see what we can do to retain these people who have been very expensively trained, have huge skills and are part of the reason why we have a shortage?
Lord Markham (Con, Department of Health & Social Care): Absolutely, retention is key. The number I gave is net of those people leaving, so the 43,000 increase takes that all into account. We have an NHS retention program, and we are encouraging people to stay in place. It is all about training, pay and making sure the conditions are good and that we are helping them in their everyday life to set up a long-term, satisfying career structure, which we are doing.
The Church of England in Parliament 
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