The register’s growth in May
On 24 May 2023, the Nursing and Midwifery Council reported that its register had reached 788,638 nurses, midwives and nursing associates. The release also discussed new joiners, international education and reasons professionals left. These were registered-professional figures, not a count of people seeking a new job or a measure of full-time staffing capacity.
The distinction matters because a growing professional register can coexist with difficult local recruitment. Our operational interpretation is that national data should inform the context of a search, while the working shortlist must be built from direct, current evidence about a person’s circumstances and the employer’s actual requirements.
Eligibility and availability are different things
A candidate may be professionally registered yet already committed to another employer, seeking different hours or unable to travel to the advertised location. Clinical specialism and recent relevant experience also matter. A database that treats all registered nurses as interchangeable can create large activity reports while producing little meaningful progress on a specific requirement.
Recruitment staff should separate several statuses: identified, contacted, interested, assessed against the brief and ready for the next step. Each status needs a date and a clear owner. Registration checks should be handled through the agreed process, while the employer retains responsibility for assessing competence, suitability and any conditions relevant to employment.
Build the live candidate picture through conversation
Key Med can support talent mapping and candidate engagement around a precise nursing brief. We can organise location preferences, shift availability, contact permissions and screening information within authorised systems. The aim is a smaller set of reliable records that a recruiter can act on, with unresolved questions visible rather than hidden behind a generic “available” label.
Begin by auditing a sample of existing records before buying more leads. Check whether contact details work, whether preferences are current and whether a previous conversation has been recorded accurately. Agree a review rhythm and retire stale statuses. This helps the recruitment team explain the real pipeline without claiming that registration growth guarantees successful placements.
The source material
- Record number of nurses, midwives and nursing associates ↗Nursing and Midwifery Council · 2023-05-24
Retrospective briefing · Published 4 November 2026. Historical figures and measures describe their period; consult current official guidance before acting. This article provides operational context. Legal, immigration, clinical and financial decisions need the responsible organisation’s qualified advisers.
