Why is the NHS student dropout rate rising and what needs to change?

The training process at the NHS is experiencing significant issues, with a substantial number of students discontinuing their university education and a concerning rate of staff departing shortly after completing their studies

A recent report highlights a distressing trend of student nurses and doctors leaving their training programs at an alarming rate. This situation places significant pressure on the NHS, worsening the challenge of producing a sufficient number of domestically trained healthcare professionals in the UK.

Efforts to address NHS dropout rates

The Nuffield Trust think tank has issued a message about the amount of students dropping out; concerns include a notable dropout rate among university students, graduates not transitioning into NHS positions, and staff departing early in their careers.

The report suggests that the challenges are made worse by difficulties in recruiting healthcare professionals from the domestic workforce in the UK.

Nuffield Trust senior fellow and report author Dr Billy Palmer said: “A key symptom of the struggles of our domestic pipeline is our heavy reliance on overseas recruitment.

“Our domestic pipeline only produces about half of nurses, midwives and nursing associates joining the register. It only accounts for about two in five doctors joining the UK register.

“So clearly we’ve got shortcomings in our ability to have that sustainable UK supply.”

The impact of student dropout rates

According to the report, approximately 12% of nursing students in England fail to complete their degrees, and out of every five university nursing positions, only three full-time equivalent nurses enter the NHS.

The report highlights that the knock-on effect of these issues has led to a significant decrease in the number of UK nurses entering the NHS, with a decline of approximately one-third in the two years following  2019/20. This equates to a reduction of over 6,000 nurses joining the NHS.

Additionally, the report highlights that approximately 25% of doctors depart within two years after completing their foundation year training, which rises to nearly 40% over five years.

The report’s authors expressed specific apprehension regarding General Practitioners (GPs), emphasising that for every two GP training positions, only one fully qualified full-time equivalent GP ultimately joins the NHS.

This underscores the NHS’s dependency on international recruitment. Notably, there has been an 18% decline in UK national occupational therapists joining the NHS in the past two years and a 9% decrease in UK national radiographers during the same period.

The stress nursing students face

The report proposes implementing a student loan forgiveness program to address the high dropout rates among medical professionals.

If extended to include nurses, midwives, and health professionals like physiotherapists, this program is estimated to sustain an annual cost of approximately £230 million in England, the report finds.

The student loan forgiveness often occurs when you are no longer required to make the payment; the report also suggests a similar scheme for doctors and dentists.