The number of nurses in the NHS in England increased by 14,199 compared to last year, and the number of doctors has risen by 9,283, figures published today up until the end of June show.

All professionally qualified clinical staff, paramedics and support to clinical staff are now at record levels.

Alongside this, the latest UCAS figures out today show there are record numbers of people accepting a place to study nursing in England, with a 23% increase on the same time last year, or 5,000 more student nurses.

Responding to today’s NHS workforce statistics, Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:   

The NHS is there for us all in our hour of need, and the safety of our health and social care staff that support us day in, day out is my top priority. It is fantastic to see over 14,100 more nurses and over 9,200 more doctors working in the NHS, putting it in the best possible position to continue tackling this global health emergency.

With the latest UCAS figures out today showing a record 23% rise in people accepting places on nursing courses in England, we are also well on our way to delivering 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament.

In July the NHS People Plan set out how the NHS will put staff wellbeing at its heart with a new recruitment, retention and support package. It sets out practical support for wellbeing such as safe spaces to rest and recuperate, wellbeing guardians and support to keep staff physically safe and healthy.

The figures for June include some former healthcare professionals who bravely volunteered to return to the frontline during the pandemic. June figures also show that 649 returners were identified, of which, there are 102 doctors and 165 nurses and health visitors. Not all returners are reflected in the monthly workforce stats as they could have been employed on Fixed Term, Honorary or Bank contracts, or via NHS Professionals.

Background information

Today NHS Digital has published their monthly NHS workforce data for June 2020

Over the last year (June 2019 to 2020) the number of nurses has gone up by 14,199, from 281,619 to 295,818.

Over the last year (June 2019 to 2020) the number of doctors has gone up by 9,283, from 111,860 to 121,142.

Student nurses do not have full registration with the NMC, and so are counted as ‘support to clinical staff’. They are not included in the ‘nurses’ count. Medical students are on the same standing as Foundation 1 doctors, and so are counted as ‘doctors’ in the statistics.

NHS Professionals is an organisation in the United Kingdom that supplies temporary staff to the National Health Service.

On 2 July 2018, a £100 million satellite called CryoSat-2 was completing its daily rounds of monitoring ice caps back on Earth from an orbital vantage point 700 kilometres above us, when mission controllers spotted a chunk of space debris hurtling towards it at 17,000 miles per hour.

To avert a potentially catastrophic collision, engineers fired up CryoSat’s thrusters and moved it out of harm’s way. This near miss was not the first, and it will not be the last.

An estimated 20,000 pieces of space debris, better known as ‘space junk’; are whizzing around the Earth as you read this. This includes zombie satellites and whole junkyards’ worth of whirling fragments left over from space missions.

Without the right protection, a four-inch piece of space junk could breach the walls of a satellite and smash it into thousands of parts, and in doing so, set off a chain reaction that could see a cascade of collisions that expands many years.

This chain reaction is known as the Kessler Syndrome, after the space debris expert Don Kessler, who predicted in 1976 that the space around Earth could become so riddled with junk that launches become impossible and vehicles that entered space would quickly be destroyed.

And this risk of a catastrophic collision is only going up, with the amount of junk in low orbit increasing by 50% in the last five years. Put simply, the plot to the sci-fi thriller Gravity could become our reality in space.

Satellites are critical to our everyday lives – they keep us connected to families and loved ones during a pandemic, they track and give us insights on climate change, and they tell us if we will need to take an umbrella on our lunch break.

While satellite operators can dodge large pieces of debris and armour satellites to withstand the impact of smaller fragments, with the need for a growing number of satellites in orbit we need to be able to monitor the space highways and to gradually clear it of obstructions.

But if we do not take action now, low-Earth orbit could become impossible for satellites to navigate and perhaps it might become too perilous for astronauts to live on the International Space Station.

If we want to continue to reach for the stars in the years to come and realise our ambitions to use satellite technology to improve lives on Earth, we need to clean up our act.

That is why I am delighted to announce over £1 million in government funding for seven of the UK’s most pioneering space projects that will help monitor hazardous space debris and protect the vital services we rely on every day – from mobile communications to weather forecasting.

And although at present we do not own a celestial broom or a tractor beam that can wipe out each bit of detritus, the companies we are backing are developing technologies like artificial intelligence and sensor technology, that will help up our game in spotting these risks and taking evasive action.

We are championing new ideas in the form of London-based Lift Me Off which is developing, and testing machine-learning algorithms designed to distinguish between satellites and space debris using thermal infrared and optical cameras.

Meanwhile Andor, based in Northern Ireland, will use a scientific detector camera to help the astronomy community track debris which can interrupt ground-based astronomy.

Another project will draw on the expertise of Fujitsu and Amazon, as well as Astroscale, to improve the commercial viability of missions that seek to remove debris – clearing the space highway.

Each project represents a first step to developing new UK capabilities to help protect the space environment.

And they all demonstrate the very best of UK science and innovation – bringing together the country’s brightest minds, taking us beyond the reaches of our own home planet to tackle some of our greatest challenges now and into the future.

At the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987, world leaders defined sustainable development as ‘meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’.

In space, this test has yet to be met. Only by tapping in to the UK space sector’s growing expertise we will ensure we make this a reality.

It’s part of the 30Days30Ways National Preparedness Month campaign which sees the North East Flood Engagement Team share vital messages about what to do in a flood on their twitter page @FloodawareNE.

The campaign and leaflet will kick start a series of events through winter around flood and weather warnings, Flood Wardens and flood history to raise awareness of why communities need to be ready to ‘Prepare, Act, Survive’ in the event of flooding.

Co-ordinated by partner organisations through Local Resilience Forums, 30Days30Ways is aimed at empowering people to build household and community preparedness and resilience in a world increasingly impacted by climate change – the biggest challenge we face today – and other risks.

Taryn Al-mashgari, Flood Resilience Advisor in the North East, said:

It’s vital that people have the information they need to be prepared for a flood so we’re launching the leaflet and linking in with the 30Days30Ways campaign in September ahead of the onset of winter to get this important advice out.

We want to make sure communities have access to reliable information to help them understand, prepare for and recover from flooding.

From our work with communities, we know how devastating it is to be flooded and the impact it has on lives and livelihoods, so we’re working hard to raise awareness of how to plan for such events.

The launch of the ‘What to do in a flood’ leaflet in the North East explains in simple terms with illustrations the practical steps people can take now and includes:

• Before a flood: create a personal flood plan, sign up to receive Environment Agency flood warnings and Met Office weather warnings
• During a flood: Stay out of flood water, get your emergency grab bag full of essentials and don’t use electricals
• After a flood: Talk about how you feel and work together with your community

The leaflet, which was funded by the Northumbria Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC), is also full of useful links where people can get more information. It’s part of a series of new leaflets which help people to understand their flood risk and what they can do to prepare and keep safe.

New flood strategy launched

The Environment Agency’s new National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England, which was launched in July, has community resilience at its core. It sets out a vision of a nation ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change and includes expanding the flood warning service, increased investment in natural flood management, and use of property flood resilience measures.

The strategy was published on the same day the government announced details of the £5.2billion that will be spent on flood protection between 2021 and 2027, alongside a further £200million for innovative resilience measures in 25 areas, as reforms to the FloodRe insurance programme.

It’s important residents check their flood risk and sign up to receive free flood warnings.