Alarm at significant drop in number of NHS workers

The number of people working in the NHS fell by more than 17,000 between 2005 and 2006, according to figures released yesterday.

The Information Centre for Health and Social Care (ICHSC) said the figures represented its "best estimate" between September 2005 and September 2006.

The figure equates to 8,118 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, when all the people working part time are taken into account. The ICHSC said its data for 2006 showed there were duplicate entries for some staff. While its tables suggested there had been a 27,000 reduction in the workforce (or 8,625 FTE), the more accurate estimate was 17,000, it said.

However, the Tories and the Royal College of Nursing disputed that presentation of the figures. The Tories said a 27,000 drop "was the biggest since records began in 1980".

Andrew Lansley, the shadow Health Secretary, said: "Gordon Brown's appalling mismanagement of finances and organisation of the NHS has now meant that we have seen the largest one-year fall in NHS staff numbers ever recorded."

An analysis of the figures shows a drop of 5,826 in the number of qualified nurses (including practice nurses) working in the NHS between 2005 and 2006.

Lord Hunt, a Health minister, said that while the head count for nurses was down, the actual full-time equivalent figure was up. There were also more doctors working in the NHS, he said. He added: "The real story here is that we are seeing an increase in the workforce for doctors and nurses and a fall for managers."

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) analysed the figures and said it believed there had been a definite drop of 6,719 nurses working in the NHS between 2005 and 2006.

Dr Peter Carter, the general secretary of the RCN, said: "The figures themselves show that in the last year alone the NHS has lost nearly 7,000 nurses ... Meanwhile internationally recruited nurses ... now face the prospect of having to leave the UK at the end of their contracts under new immigration laws ...

"With leaked Government figures predicting a shortage of 14,000 nurses by 2011 and another 180,000 nurses due to retire over the next 10 years, the future potentially looks bleak."

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