The number of EU nurses leaving their job outnumbers the amount joining the NHS, according to recent statistics

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Latest research exemplifies the current climate of the NHS, as the gap between the number of those joining and leaving is bigger than ever before

According to the results, more than 33,000 NHS nurses in England walked out of their job, a fifth more than figures from 2012-13.

This averages to around a tenth of NHS nurses in England leaving their job in each of the previous three years, the number of which is equivalent to the number of employees it takes to staff 20 average-sized hospital trusts.

However, England isn’t the only region of the UK to be affected, as Wales also witnessed more nurses leaving the NHS than those joining. In addition, Northern Ireland and Scotland also saw an increase in the number of leavers, as 7.5% of nurses left in Northern Ireland and 7.2% of nurses from Scotland.

From the year ending September 2017, over 50% of nurses in England who left last year were under the age of 40, the following figures of which reveal the number of leavers by demographic:

· Under 40 years – 17,207

· Between 40-54 years – 9,437

· Over 55 years – 6,796

Though there is no explicit evidence to say that this is because of the Brexit referendum, reports are pointing towards Brexit as the cause, with some of the public believing that the government are ignoring important domestic issues, such as the NHS and housing crisis.

Commenting on the statistics, College of Nursing head, Janet Davies, said: “The government must lift the NHS out of this dangerous and downward spiral. We are haemorrhaging nurses at precisely the time when demand has never been higher.”

She adds: “The next generation of British nurses aren't coming through just as the most experienced nurses are becoming demoralised and leaving.”