England’s social care nurse workforce reaches 35,000

The number of social care nurses in England has risen by around 2,000 posts in the last year, but long-term retention remains an issue, a new report has suggested.

Skills for Care’s latest workforce data reveals that between 2024/25, around 35,000 registered nurses were recruited into independent care settings – up 5.7% on 2023/24 when there were around 33,000 registered nurses.

This was also up from the 31,000 registered nurses in independent social care settings in 2022/23.

More widely, the new figures – from the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England – found that the number of filled posts across the whole independent social care workforce has increased by 3.4% between 2023/24 and 2024/25, standing at 1.6 million.

The overall workforce vacancy rate for the sector had also fallen to 7% in 2024/25, down from 8.3% in 2023/24.

The latest vacancy rate is in line with similar levels seen prior to the Covid-19 pandemic (7.1% in 2019/20) and below a peak of 10.5% seen in 2021/22.

The analysis also found that the number of filled posts in care homes with nursing facilities increased by 3% in 2024/25, up to 8,400 posts.

In care homes without nursing, the number rose by 3.3%, up to 9,900 posts.

Meanwhile, vacancy rates have dipped by 0.9% in care homes without nursing, 0.3% in care homes with nursing and 1.8% in domiciliary care as of 2024/25.

Recruitment and retention still a concern

However, Skills for Care said the sector still faced ‘long term recruitment and retention challenges’.

The body projects that the sector needs around 470,000 new posts – an increase of 27% – by 2040 to keep up with the projected growth in the population over the age of 65.

Professor Oonagh Smyth, chief executive at Skills for Care, said the sector ‘can’t afford to be complacent’ and demanded action to prevent ‘wild swings in vacancy rates’.

‘Building resilience means investing in stable recruitment and retention and making roles more attractive to the domestic workforce over the long term,’ she said.

‘That includes improving development opportunities, improving the quality of roles and supporting positive cultures within organisations.’

A fall in international recruitment

According to the report, the number of international recruits fell from 105,000 in 2023/24 to 50,000 in 2024/25.

This follows changes introduced in May, when the government published its Immigration White Paper – detailing its plans to ‘end’ the recruitment of care workers from overseas by closing social care visas to new applications from abroad.

Of the 50,000 people recruited internationally in 2024/25, Skills for Care estimate that 10,000 were recruited from outside the UK on the Health and Care Worker Visa.

Other options for entry into the UK could include a student visa, which limits workers to 20 hours of paid employment per week, and dependents and family members of people arriving into the UK via other visa routes.

The findings also show a fall in the number of posts filled by British nationals, which fell by 3% in 2024/25 and is down 7% since 2020/21.

Donna O’Boyle, acting executive director of professional practice at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), said the NMC ‘welcome’ the report, but warned a ‘more sustainable domestic pipeline’ was needed to improve nurse recruitment.

‘It’s positive to see growth in filled posts and vacancy rates returning to pre-pandemic levels,’ she said.

‘However, as reflected in our own registration data, a key driver of that growth – international recruitment – has already begun to decline.’

Last month, NMC registration data found that overseas nurse recruitment had fallen for the first time in six years, despite the register reaching a record high overall number.

‘This is a timely report, with the government’s 10 Year Health Plan in England seeking to shift care into community settings,’ she said.

‘But the numbers in [the] report make clear that a truly community-centred model demands a stronger, more sustainable domestic pipeline.’

Nuffield Trust fellow, Camille Oung, said more vacancies being filled within social care was ‘undoubtedly a thing to celebrate’, but stressed that the sector was ‘still actively losing homegrown workers’.

‘The sector continues to be propped up by international recruitment, but the UK government is now taking multiple measures that kick away that support strut,’ Ms Oung said.

‘As well as the specific block on visas for care workers, the wider tightening on immigration is likely to mean there will be fewer migrants on other types of visas who might work in the sector.’

She added that there was a ‘strong case’ to improve terms and conditions for care workers to better attract and retain homegrown staff, but warned that the changes, such as those proposed in the Employment Rights Bill, are still a ‘long way off’.

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The Bill was first introduced to Parliament on October 10 2024 and introduced major changes to the independent health and social care sector, including to zero-hour contracts and sick pay, and to establish an Adult Social Care Negotiating Body for pay.

Labour had pledged a fair pay agreement for those working in adult social care as part of its election campaign.

In May, the government was urged to publish a timeline for the introduction of a ‘fair pay agreement’ for care workers, as part of a Health and Social Care Committee report examining the current state of the sector.

Also in May, nursing staff from various healthcare settings warned of the ‘incredibly miserable’ consequences of the government’s plans to ban the recruitment of care workers from overseas during a debate at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Congress in Liverpool.