Nurses: EU Nationals
(asked on 29th March 2018) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nurses from non-UK EU countries the NHS employed on 1 September (a) 2017, (b) 2016 and (c) 2015.
NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics as at the last day of each month and the following table shows the number of nurses from non-United Kingdom European Union countries, as at 30 September for each specified year.
NHS HCHS: Non-UK EU nurses, as at 30 September for each specified year, headcount:
Year | Nurses from Non UK, EU countries, Headcount: | % of all Nurses |
2015 | 18,771 | 6% |
2016 | 22,227 | 7% |
2017 | 21,237 | 6.7% |
Source: NHS Digital Workforce statistics
The statistics show the number of non-UK EU nurses at September 2017 is 21,237. This is 990 fewer than September 2016. Departmental analysis suggests that this reduction is more likely to be a consequence of the Nursing and Midwifery Council introducing more rigorous language testing for European Economic Area applicants, than the decision to leave the European Union. Overall, the non-UK EU National Health Service workforce continued to grow and as of December 2017 there were over 3,600 more non-UK EU staff in the NHS than in June 2016.