MORE people have joined the NHS in St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals than have left over the past year, although there is still some cause for concern.
Across the country, NHS Trusts have struggled with retaining staff members in recent years, with a record exodus of almost 170,000 workers leaving core health services in England in 2022.
Nurse and doctor shortages are key contributors to stresses felt across the health sector, with the latest data showing mixed results across St Helens and Knowsley.
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In the latest workforce statistics released by NHS England, the statistics show that 948 people joined the local NHS Trust between June 2022 and June 2023, while 726 left their roles across the hospital and community health service.
In terms of full-time equivalent roles, the figure stands at 867 joiners and 610 leavers.
Looking at full time staff, the figures show that 258 more nurses and health visitors joined the local NHS Trust in the past year, in comparison to 162 leavers.
249 people have also joined the Trust to support doctors, nurses, and midwives, in comparison to 157 people who have left.
However, more doctors have left their roles across St Helens and Knowsley Hospitals over the past year, excluding junior doctors, from 33 leavers to 30 joiners.
More midwives have also left the profession in the year to June, from 21 leavers to 19 joiners.
Despite some promising signs in the annual turnover in St Helens and Knowsley, there is a more concerning trend in the latest monthly turnover.
Looking at the turnover rate for full-time staff members between May and June 2023, the figures show that 44 people joined St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals while 58 people left their roles.
This figure is predominantly impacted by nurses and health visitors as 21 are recorded as leaving their roles from May to June, with just 3 joining in their place.
The same number of doctors left and joined the Trust from May to June, while one more midwife was appointed than those that left.
21 support staff to doctors, nurses, and midwives were appointed from May to June, in comparison to 11 leavers.
The most popular reason for leaving roles within NHS Trusts across the country is employee transfers within the health service, end of fixed contracts, and flexi retirement.
Further data shows that there are currently 16,710 NHS vacancies in the North West, a jump from 14,025 in the last quarter.
It was also announced in the summer that St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals will merge with Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals from July 2023, to form the Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
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