New analysis shows 1 in 10 health and care professionals leave within 4 years
New analysis of HCPC data suggests that, despite 14 of the 15 professions that we regulate growing in numbers, retention remains an issue.
1 in 10 of all new registrants leave the Register within four years.
Current levels of international registrants, the timescales for training and recruitment of health and care professionals trained in the UK, and these retention rates suggest that action may be needed to maintain safe and effective care, as recruitment shifts away from international staff.
Bernie O’Reilly, CEO and Registrar at the HCPC said:
‘The retention of staff has been a long-term issue for health and care workforce in the UK and should continue to be a top priority for the health and care sector.
‘As expected, our data shows that retention rates are lower for internationally trained registrants, with 1 in 3 of those registrants leaving our Register within four years, compared to 1 in 20 UK-route registrants. This difference could in part be explained by many young international-route registrants will leave our register after their working in the UK on two-year working visas come to an end.
‘However, as plans to reduce the NHS’s dependency on international recruitment are implemented over the coming decade, the retention rates for UK trained health and care staff need to be closely considered to ensure safe and effective continues.
‘Our findings provide important information for those creating targeted recruitment and retention strategies and support the steps already being taken by workforce planners, education providers and employers.’
HCPC’s data hub provides insight across all 15 health and care professions we regulate. It was launched earlier this year and is already playing a key role in informing workforce planning decisions.
Mr O’Reilly, added:
‘While retention of staff in all health and care professions and settings is critical to safe and effective care, the levels in allied health professions, as well as scientific and psychological professions, are often overlooked.
‘Our ability to analyse data across the 15 different professions we regulate through our data hub allows us to spot trends and better understand the workforce across the UK.
‘Regulators play a vital role in protecting patients and service users. By sharing our data and our insights as a multi-professional regulator for over 360,000 health and care professionals, we hope to further help the health and care sector to deliver safe and high-quality care for the public.’
The new dashboard on the hub shows that retention for international-route registrants, within four years of initial registration was highest among arts therapists (86%) and practitioner psychologists (85%), and lowest among chiropodists / podiatrists (48%), speech and language therapists (51%), and occupational therapists (53%).
The data is publicly available here: www.hcpc-uk.org/data/
Open to everyone and easy to navigate, the hub provides a wealth of information across all 15 HCPC regulated professions and will enable HCPC to play our part in shaping workforce decision making across the health and care sector.
