If there’s one thing 2025 has made crystal clear, it’s this: healthcare in the UK continues to run on the dedication, resilience and adaptability of its workforce – and agency nursing remains a vital part of that story.
From workforce reform headlines and ongoing staffing shortages, to renewed debates around agency use and international recruitment, this year has been anything but quiet. So, before we step into 2026, let’s take a moment to look back at the defining moments that shaped agency nursing and healthcare across the UK in 2025.
First Things First… Why Is Staffing Still Such a Hot Topic?
“Breaking News: Healthcare staffing pressures haven’t magically disappeared!” – shocking, we know.
Despite sustained efforts to grow the NHS workforce, demand for care continues to outpace supply. The NHS now employs around 1.5 million people, yet vacancy rates – particularly within nursing and support roles – remain a significant challenge. Rising patient acuity, an ageing population and increasing complexity of care have all contributed to the ongoing pressure on frontline services.
For many nurses, this has meant longer shifts, heavier workloads and growing concerns around burnout and wellbeing – themes consistently raised throughout 2025 by professional bodies and workforce reports.
The NHS Workforce Plan: Big Promises, Long Timelines
One of the most talked-about developments this year was the continued rollout of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, which aims to dramatically increase the number of nurses trained domestically over the coming years.
Key focuses in 2025 included:
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Expanding nurse training places
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Developing alternative entry routes such as apprenticeships
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Improving retention through better career progression
Alongside this, the government introduced a Graduate Guarantee, ensuring newly qualified nurses and midwives in England are offered employment following graduation — a welcome move designed to stabilise early-career attrition.
That said, while these initiatives are steps in the right direction, they are long-term solutions – and healthcare services still need safe staffing today.
Agency Nursing in 2025: Under the Microscope (Again)
Agency nursing continued to dominate workforce discussions this year, and not without controversy.
Throughout 2025, NHS leaders reiterated ambitions to reduce agency spend, arguing that savings could be redirected into permanent staffing. In some quarters, this sparked headlines suggesting the “end of agency nursing” was imminent.
Reality check: it wasn’t.
While cost control remains a priority, agency nurses continued to play a critical role in maintaining safe staffing levels, covering vacancies, sickness, annual leave and surges in demand – particularly across community services, mental health, learning disability and complex care settings.
The conversation in 2025 increasingly shifted from whether agencies should exist, to how agencies and healthcare providers can work better together – focusing on quality, continuity and workforce sustainability.
Recruitment, Retention & International Nurses
Recruitment and retention pressures remained front and centre throughout the year.
Proposed changes to immigration rules sparked concern across the sector, with surveys suggesting that stricter policies could risk losing thousands of internationally trained nurses from the UK workforce. At the same time, updated guidance on ethical international recruitment reinforced the importance of supporting overseas staff already contributing so much to UK healthcare.
Retention also emerged as a major theme, with flexible working, wellbeing support and career development highlighted as essential factors in keeping nurses in the profession – areas where agency work continues to offer valued choice and autonomy.
Beyond Staffing: A System Under Strain
2025 also reminded us that workforce issues don’t exist in isolation.
The sector faced:
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Continued industrial action across parts of the NHS
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Winter pressures compounded by flu and respiratory illness
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Growing cyber-security concerns impacting healthcare suppliers
Against this backdrop, agency nurses once again provided stability during uncertainty, ensuring care continued when systems were stretched to their limits.
So… What Does This Mean for 2026?
If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that there is no single solution to the UK’s healthcare workforce challenge.
Permanent recruitment, better retention strategies and domestic training expansion are all vital – but so too is a trusted, well-managed agency workforce that can respond to real-time demand and support continuity of care.
At NursLink, we remain committed to working collaboratively with healthcare providers and nurses alike – delivering safe, reliable and compassionate staffing solutions that put people first.
Because while policy debates come and go, one thing never changes:
patients need care, and healthcare staff need support.
As we head into 2026, the focus must remain on balance, partnership and sustainable workforce planning – and agency nursing will continue to be a key part of that journey.
