Staffing Crisis Persists Despite Graduate Numbers
Unions report that NHS workers in Wales are facing a staffing crisis, even as a significant number of nursing and midwifery graduates remain unemployed within the NHS system.
Following the initial matching process for graduates to suitable NHS roles, nearly 400 Welsh nursing and midwifery graduates have yet to secure employment.
Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), the body responsible for workforce development and training, stated that improved recruitment and retention efforts have resulted in fewer vacancies than initially projected.
HEIW confirmed that 703 graduates were matched to entry-level band 5 positions; however, 383 nursing, midwifery, and operating department practitioner (ODP) graduates remain unmatched.
Unions representing nursing and midwifery professionals have criticized the shortage of available roles, highlighting the growing demand in hospitals that are already struggling with staffing deficits.
The university places for these students were funded based on workforce planning that projected the number of professionals needed to fill future roles. However, over the four years since these plans were made, circumstances have shifted, including rising costs for health boards and trusts.
In some regions, the shortage of vacancies is also attributed to reduced staff turnover. For example, Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board has observed nearly a 50% reduction in staff turnover in recent years.
Workforce Challenges in Maternity and Paramedic Services
Maternity services continue to experience strain due to insufficient staffing levels, as highlighted in recent reports.
Newly qualified paramedics have been advised to seek employment abroad because of a hiring freeze within NHS Wales.
Concerns have been raised questioning the rationale behind funding student education when employment opportunities within the NHS are limited.
The majority of the 383 unmatched graduates are nurses, with 70 midwives and 7 ODPs also included in this group.
A subsequent allocation phase is planned to match graduates to 131 remaining nursing roles by the end of July, which is expected to reduce the number of unemployed graduates.
HEIW explained in a statement that improved recruitment and retention, combined with cost-of-living pressures, have led to lower staff turnover and fewer vacancies than anticipated when workforce plans were submitted four years ago.
They added,
"Alongside increased financial constraints, this has led to fewer suitable band 5 opportunities being available this year."
Alex Howells, chief executive of HEIW, acknowledged the situation, stating,
"We recognise that this outcome will be disappointing for those graduates who have not yet secured a post through the initial phase of streamlining.
Alongside supporting those affected by the current position, partners will also be working together to strengthen workforce planning and improve opportunities for future cohorts."
It is understood that graduates who have not secured employment during this initial process will be offered flexibility regarding the NHS Wales bursary, which covered their tuition fees on the condition that they work in Wales for two years post-graduation.
Union Responses: Urgent Calls for Government Intervention
Nicola Williams, executive director of nursing at Royal College of Nursing Wales, urged the Welsh government to take immediate action, stating,
"We are calling on the Welsh government to intervene urgently as there are a number of solutions that can be put in place to provide each graduate with a job.
At a time when we are spending large amounts on temporary staffing, our members continue to tell us of the significant pressures they face every day, with increasing demand and insufficient staff, we cannot justify a position where newly qualified nurses are unable to secure employment."
Julie Richards, director of Royal College of Midwives Cymru, expressed concern over the situation, saying,
"It leaves us questioning how many newly qualified midwives, who are ready and willing to work, can be left without jobs while services continue to struggle with workforce shortages.
It's disappointing that there are insufficient jobs for all graduate midwives when we desperately need them in the workforce to ease the staffing crisis in our maternity services."
Government Response and Healthcare Summit
Earlier this year, an assessment of maternity and neonatal care highlighted the urgent need to address staffing levels, which have not kept pace with the increasing complexity of care.
Richards further commented,
"On one hand we have national reviews and assessments highlighting the urgent need to improve staffing levels to ensure safe, equitable care.
On the other, we are seeing newly qualified midwives facing uncertainty about their future employment. That simply does not add up."
In response to these challenges, Wales' health minister Mabon ap Gwynfor convened a healthcare summit last month with health board leaders, universities, and professional bodies to discuss solutions.
A Welsh government spokesperson said the summit was organised by ap Gwynfor
"to find immediate solutions and prevent this from happening again, and asked for actions from the summit to be rolled out nationally."
The spokesperson added,
"We have asked Health Education and Improvement Wales to coordinate a national support offer, including a single point of access to ensure graduates remain supported and connected to emerging employment opportunities."
