Nursing exodus 'hits target hopes

At current rates 90,000 nurses will have left the NHS by 2004, bringing the total number of new nurses needed to 110,000, over five times the current government recruitment target, a study claims.

Making Up the Difference, an independent report commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) says the flood of nurses leaving the NHS must be halted if the target is to be met.

The government has confirmed that its target of recruiting 20,000 nurses by 2004 included part-time nurses and did not mean 20,000 full-time equivalent posts, which implied a larger number of recruits.

The college said the target was "highly ambitious" but "achievable", provided NHS Executives stuck to their pledge to implement its recommendations to recruit and retain nurses. These include an above-inflation pay rise, and mortgage subsidy schemes in areas with high living costs.

Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, yesterday published his own research showing the NHS faces a nursing crisis as its ageing workforce approaches retirement. Mr Burstow said the colleges report "confirms the results of our own research."

He said: "Poor planning under the Tories, and Labour's failure to recognise the scale of the problem, has meant young people have not been attracted into nursing. "The NHS plan has failed to address the stark fact that without better pay and conditions, younger nurses will not be persuaded to join the NHS."

A Department of Health spokesman said the health service had 16,000 more nurses than when the government took power.

But the shadow health secretary Liam Fox said that the report had masked the true situation, by failing to differentiate between full and part-time nurses. "The college is confirming what wehae all suspected - that the government pledge on urse numbers is a complete fabrication," said Dr Fox.

The health department spokesman said: "We are investing bilions to get more staff into the NHS. We have always been very clear that our figures involve the number of nurses, not the number of full time equivalents."