ADR UK Research Fellows: Nursing and Midwifery Council linked to Census 2021

Status: Active

This unique dataset links the NMC’s UK-wide register of nurses, nursing associates, and midwives with the Census 2021 for England and Wales. It provides rich, de-identified information on these professions, enabling research on entry, retention, and movement across regions. The dataset is being accessed within the Integrated Data Service, a trusted research environment delivered by the Office for National Statistics.

Through this fellowship, Professor Iain Atherton is leading a project that aims to understand migration trends among UK healthcare professionals, informing future workforce planning and educational investment. His research analyses geographical movement, with a focus on first-year registrants, using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data to explore the factors that influence migration.

These findings around migration patterns will help policymakers and healthcare organisations develop strategies for recruiting and retaining healthcare professionals in different parts of the UK, ultimately improving services for patients.           

Nurses, midwives, and migration: Evidence from a linked registrant-census dataset 

Iain is a Professor of Nursing and Data Science at Edinburgh Napier University. His project will develop an evidence base on the migration of nurses, nursing associates and midwives within the UK.

View project details

The project aims to explore the following research questions:

  1. Can registrant data provide a robust basis for migration analysis? 
  2. Which regions of the UK lose nurses, nursing associates and midwives to other parts of the UK? 
  3. Which geographical regions see an increased number of nurses, nursing associates, and midwives moving to that area?
  4. Do these migration patterns differ amongst registrants in their first year of practice? 
  5. What factors drive the relocation of nurses and midwives? 

The methodology used in this study:  

  • The project will track geographical moves, such as changing regions or countries within the UK, using registrant data from different time points. Census data will help verify these findings by analysing moves made in the year before census day. Migration rates for UK nations and regions in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 will be calculated and compared to each other and to census data for England and Wales. Analysis will focus on registrants in their first year of practice.
  • The project will then develop models to understand what factors influence nurses and midwives to relocate. These factors may be professional (e.g. time since qualification), social (e.g. caring responsibilities), and geographical (e.g. where they lived and moved).

The findings will help explain why nurses, midwives and nursing associates relocate which can inform policies to support workforce retention. These insights will be of interest to the NMC and those responsible for workforce and education provision across the UK.

Funded value: £164,413.78 

Duration: 1 October 2024 – March 2026

Publications

Categories: Research using linked data, ADR UK Research Fellows, ADR England, ADR Scotland, Office for National Statistics, Health & wellbeing, World of work

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