Retention still a concern for children's nursing, despite rise in staff numbers

In January, the House of Commons health committee published its inquiry into the NHS workforce. Although the number of children's nurses has gone up, figures show 10.9% of posts in England are now unfilled. So how can workforce pressures be eased?

On the face of it, children’s nursing did not seem to come off too badly in the recent review of the workforce by the House of Commons’ health committee.

The report warned there were ‘unacceptable’ pressures being placed on the workforce because of the shortage of nurses, recommending further reassurances for EU nationals post-Brexit, a fair pay rise and the creation of a well-being group to advise on improving working conditions.

But the figures highlighted by the cross-party group of MPs showed that, since 2010 the number of children’s nurses working in the NHS in England had actually risen by