The Gera NHS Staff Retention Index

Gera NHS Staff Retention Index: FAQs

What is the Gera NHS Staff Retention Index?

The Gera NHS Staff Retention Index (GNSRI) is a single 0–100 score for how well the NHS keeps its staff. It is the 12-month staff retention rate — the share of staff who stayed over the year — on a 0–100 scale. For the year to september 2024 the national index is 89.9 / 100 (a 10.1% leaver rate). It is computed directly from the real NHS leaver rate; the full method is on the methodology page.

How is the index calculated?

It is the complement of the official NHS leaver rate: GNSRI = 100 − leaver rate, rounded to one decimal place. There is no weighting and no editorial constant. A score of 100 would mean nobody left; 89.9 means 10.1% of staff left and the rest were retained over the year. Every input is the real published NHS number — only the naming and 0–100 framing are Gera's, and both are fully disclosed.

What does the index say right now?

For the year to september 2024, the national Gera NHS Staff Retention Index is 89.9 / 100 for all hospital and community NHS staff — a 10.1% leaver rate, around 1 in 10 staff. That is up 2.4 points from 87.5 / 100 in the year to september 2022 (12.5% leaver rate), when nearly 21,300 more staff left.

Is NHS staff retention getting better or worse?

Better, on the published figures. The all-staff leaver rate fell from 12.5% in the year to september 2022 to 10.1% in the year to september 2024, lifting the retention index from 87.5 to 89.9 / 100. For professionally qualified clinical staff the leaver rate was 9.4% in the year to december 2025 — a retention index of 90.6 / 100 and, per NHS England, the lowest leaver rate since the pandemic and the second-lowest since 2010.

Which part of England has the best NHS staff retention?

Of the 3 cuts with a published region-specific rate, North West scores highest on the retention index at 90 / 100 (10.0% leaver rate in the year to september 2024), and South East lowest at 89.4 / 100 (10.6%). Only the North West and South East NHS England regions published a region-specific leaver rate in this release, so other regions are not listed rather than estimated.

Why is NHS staff retention improving?

NHS England attributes much of the improvement to its People Promise retention programme. Across pilot organisations the number of leavers fell by an average of 11.8%, retaining around 4,500 staff, and the programme expanded from 23 to 116 organisations by March 2025. Barts Health NHS Trust cut its leaver rate by 17% after 23 interventions, and United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust saved over £10,000,000 in temporary-staffing costs.

What is a good NHS staff retention rate?

There is no official target retention rate, so the index is a relative measure. Higher is better: the closer to 100, the fewer staff left. On the published NHS series the all-staff retention rate has ranged from about 87.5 / 100 (the year to september 2022) to 89.9 / 100 (the year to september 2024), so a move of even one point represents thousands of staff.

How often is the index updated?

NHS England Digital publishes NHS Workforce Statistics — including the 12-month rolling leaver rate — monthly, roughly six weeks after the reference month. Gera recomputes the index on each release. The headline figures here are for the year to september 2024 and were last updated on 3 July 2026.

What does the index NOT show?

It covers the 12-month leaver rate for NHS staff in England only. It is not a vacancy rate, not a headcount, and not a measure of why individuals left. Region-specific figures exist only where NHS England published them (North West and South East in this release). It is a summary of official national and regional figures, not workforce advice for any single employer.

How does this relate to GeraClinic?

GeraClinic is a private telemedicine service connecting patients with UK-registered doctors by video. It is not part of, or affiliated with, the NHS. We publish the Gera NHS Staff Retention Index as free, sourced context on NHS workforce pressure — the numbers come only from NHS England and NHS England Digital, under the Open Government Licence.