'Come on NHS...you can pay more' say nurses, as thousands ditch UK for abroad

ITV News has learned the number of nurses applying to leave England and work abroad has more than doubled in the space of a year, Health Correspondent Rebecca Barry reports

“I love the NHS,” Amy Lewis tells me, as she irons her nursing uniform.

She has spent three years studying for her nursing degree and is due to graduate in September.

“I want nothing more than to work for the NHS for the rest of my life,” she says.

But NHS pay and conditions means Amy is now considering taking her skills to Australia.

She said: “It’s almost heartbreaking. Nursing is what I want to do, it’s my passion, but can I support myself living here? I’m not sure.“

Amy is far from alone.

Data obtained by the Royal College of Nursing shared exclusively with ITV News reveals the number of NHS nurses in England considering working abroad has rocketed.

In recent years the number of applications in England for certificates of current professional status, which nursing staff must obtain before practising overseas, has been steadily rising.

But last year the number more than doubled from 4,409 in 2021/22 to over 10,282 to 2022/23.

And in the first six months of this financial year, there were almost 9,000 applications - nearing the total for the whole of the previous year.

At 6am London time, it’s 5pm in the city of Hobart in Tasmania, Australia.

Tembie Madega has just finished her shift and is smiling as I speak to her on a video call.

She had been working as a nurse in Luton. But in 2021 she left and hasn’t looked back.

“The pay was a big deciding factor,” she tells me.

While in the UK nurses like her earn 10% below the national average wage, in places like Australia nurses can earn 20% more than the national average wage, which is around £38,000.

Tembie tells me she’s met many nurses from England in Australia and they all had the same frustrations over pay.

“Come on NHS,” she implores “look what your counterparts are doing, you can pay more.”

In England, university applications to study nursing have dropped by a quarter in the last two years and there are thousands of NHS vacancies.

Unions want an above inflation pay rise this year.

Royal College of Nursing General Secretary and Chief Executive, Professor Pat Cullen, told ITV News that nurses are moving to other countries where their pay is better - and where they provide safer care.

“I see for myself what those nurses are trying to manage: patients on corridors, patients treated in ambulances - so this government has a real problem on its hands.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We delivered on our commitment to recruit an additional 50,000 NHS nurses six months early, helping to tackle waiting lists and improve access for patients.

“We have also published the first ever Long Term Workforce Plan - backed by over £2.4 billion government funding - to provide the biggest training expansion in NHS history and hundreds of thousands more staff over the next 15 years.

"The plan also commits to improving staff retention to ensure that up to 130,000 fewer staff, including nurses, will leave the NHS over the next 15 years.”

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