Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will estimate the number of newly-qualified nurses who lose their professional status because they have been unable to secure employment within two years of graduation.

The Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom, and nursing associates in England. It sets the standards that registrants must meet to demonstrate that they are capable of practising safely and effectively.

There is no requirement for nurses to be in employment in order to maintain their registration with the NMC. Registrants must pay an annual registration fee and revalidate every three years by submitting a range of evidence demonstrating their skills and adherence to the NMC Code of professional standards and behaviours. They must also demonstrate that they have practised for a minimum of 450 hours over the three year revalidation period.

The NMC publishes an annual leavers survey to understand why people leave its permanent register, alongside annual and mid-year registration data reports. The annual and mid-year registration data tables includes a breakdown of leavers by the years since initial registration, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/registration-statistics/