Just 46 European nurses arrived to work in Britain in April – compared with 1,304 in the month after the Brexit referendum.
Workforce experts said the numbers had “crashed,” with the NHS now facing the worst nursing crisis for the last 20 years.
In recent years, the number of nurses who have come to work in Britain from other European countries has soared. More than 38,000 nurses on the UK register are from elsewhere in Europe – a rise from 10,000 in 2010.
The Health Foundation, which obtained the figures, said action was needed to offset further loss of EU nurses, with a current shortage of 30,000 nurses in England alone.
Anita Charlesworth, director of research and economics said the findings should come as a “wake up call2 to politicians and health service leaders.
“The drop in EU nurses registering to work in the UK could not be more stark – just 46 registered to work in the UK in April. Without EU nurses it will be even harder for the NHS and other employers to find the staff they need to provide safe patient care,” she said.
“Clearly action is needed to offset any further loss of EU nursing staff in the near future. But the overall shortage of 30,000 nurses is not a shortage caused by the Brexit vote. The chronic shortage of nurses is the result of years of short-term planning and cuts to training places.”