Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the disparity between the average ages at which men and women leave the nursing profession.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies report was commissioned by the Department and NHS England was involved in its development. As the report found, retention is a complex matter influenced by multiple factors, including trust leadership and organisational culture, staff experience in the workplace and economic opportunities in the local area. We welcome the report's findings, including the relationship between age, gender and experience of staff and decisions to remain in the workforce.

The findings will inform NHS England’s work to strengthen retention in the National Health Service, which seeks to understand why staff leave and provide targeted interventions to support staff to stay. Each trust is required to have retention action plans in place which will target support where needed locally. In July 2022, NHS England asked each NHS organisation to prioritise the delivery of actions on nursing and midwifery retention, which includes enhanced support for those joining the NHS, menopause support and improved advice and guidance for those later in their career with flexible working and pensions.