More Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust staff resigned last year than before the pandemic

Nursing, doctor and midwife trade unions highlighted poor pay and a lack of mental and physical support as critical reasons for the national exodus.

NHS Digital figures show about 250 NHS medical and administration staff resigned from their roles at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust in 2021-22, up from about 220 in 2019-20, the year leading up to the coronavirus pandemic.

The trust, which runs Mansfield Community and Sutton’s King’s Mill hospitals, said, while the overall figures do show an increase in actual numbers leaving, it has recruited three times as many people, increasing the overal staffing numbers.

Rob Simcox, SFH director of people, said: “Recruiting and retaining staff is a top priority and we are actively working with our partners across the county to address this.

“We’re also working closely in partnership with education providers including West Nottinghamshire College and Nottingham Trent University to create clear pathways and opportunities for people to get into meaningful, local employment no matter what their educational background.

“There are a range of career and job opportunities and our current vacancies can be found on our website.

“We offer a range of free mental and physical wellbeing support to our colleagues both at work and in their home lives.

“We are exceptionally proud of and thank them for their hard work and commitment providing excellent care for our patients during times of continued pressure.”

Across the country, 140,000 staff members resigned last year, up from 99,000 the year before, while an average of 101,000 staff resigned annually in the nine years before the pandemic – a resignation does not necessarily mean the staff member has left the NHS altogether, as the figures also include any promotions and relocations.

Pat Cullen, Royal College of Nursing general secretary and chief executive, said: “Years of underinvestment – including a decade of real-terms pay cuts – means record numbers of staff are leaving the NHS.

“Staff are leaving, realising they can get similar or better pay in supermarkets and retail without the stress of the job, and poor pay is creating severe staff shortages and making patients unsafe.

“Nurses, patients, and the public deserve better than a government that won’t listen.”

Among the departures across England last year were 30,740 nurses and health visitors who voluntarily left their posts, the highest number on record and a 13 per cent increase on 2019-20.

Of them, 40 were based at SFH, in line with 2019-20.

Meanwhile, the number of hospital and community health service doctors across the country resigning also reached record levels during the pandemic, rising from 8,225 in 2019-20 to 9,305 last year.

The Department for Health and Social Care said it has given a million NHS workers a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year, as well as a 3 per cent cost-of-living pay increase last year.

A DHSC spokesman said: “There are already record numbers of staff working in the NHS, with 4,700 more doctors and over 10,500 more nurses compared to last year, and we are committed to 50,000 more nurses in the NHS by the end of this parliament.”