NHS rolls out staff retention scheme as part of the Long Term Plan

News - 22 July 2019

A scheme that has helped keep more than 1,000 nurses, midwives and other clinicians in the NHS will be rolled out to cover staff working in general practice as well as hospitals, the NHS announced today.

A ‘transfer window’ lets staff move within the NHS between areas while developing new skills. Rewards from local businesses like discount gym membership and targeted mentoring for new joiners are among the incentives used to keep them.

Over the last two year the National Retention Programme (NRP) has seen experts work with 145 NHS Trusts to help them find was to retain staff and figures for the first 15 months shows that more than 1,100 who would have left decided to stay.

Analysis shows that the scheme means the equivalent of 800 fewer full time nurses have left the NHS since the start of the scheme.

These reductions mean both national nursing staff turnover rates and clinical mental health staff turnover rates are the lowest they have been for five years.

Now the programme is being rolled out to other Trusts and expanded into general practice as part of the NHS People Plan, NHS England chief executive will tell the King’s Fund think-tank’s annual leadership and management summit in London.