NHS staff

Are mental health nurse numbers down?

There are 5,000 fewer mental health nurses since 2010, using a broader definition of mental health nurses used by NHS Digital, there are 7,000 fewer.

What’s happening to nursing numbers?

We don’t have figures specifically for the numbers of nurses working on our wards. Between May 2010 and March 2017 the number of nurses overall has increased but looking at the different types of nurses the picture is more varied.

Midwives leaving the profession

According to the Royal College of Midwives 80% of the midwives who were intending to leave midwifery in the next two years said that increased pay would encourage them to stay in midwifery.

How many NHS employees are there?

There are roughly 1.5 million people employed by the NHS but this is a headcount. There are other ways of counting such as Full-Time Equivalents.

SNP Manifesto: Nurses' pay

Are nurses in Scotland paid more than England?

How many nurses are using foodbanks?

Media reports show that at least some individual nurses and trainees have visited food banks. We've not found any evidence on how widespread this is.

Are NHS workers getting a 4% pay rise?

If they move up pay bands, possibly.

Are there more nurses on our wards?

We don’t have figures specifically for the total number of nurses on hospital wards.

Nursing training places

We don’t know yet how changes to NHS bursaries will affect the number of places universities offer.

A shortage of midwives?

There are more midwives in England than there were in 2010, but the trade union representing them estimates that there’s a shortage, as has the National Audit Office.

Staffing in A&E

There are roughly 600 more A&E consultants, 1,500 more A&E doctors, and 2,000 more paramedics since 2010.

The number of doctors and nurses in NHS England

The number of doctors, nurses and midwives is going up, though not by as much as we've seen claimed.

Fewer doctors and nurses working in mental health

There are fewer nurses and doctors specialising in mental health now than in 2010.

The cost of training a doctor

It’s wrong to say that training a doctor costs "the taxpayer" £230,000.