NHS long-term damage warning as hundreds of graduates still without jobs

NHS long-term damage warning as hundreds of graduates still without jobsImage source, Mia EdgeworthImage caption, Final year nursing student Mia Edgeworth was hoping to get her first job this yearByMegan Davies and Thea Kellock, BBC WalesPublished8 July 2026Updated 30 minutes agoThe NHS could face long-term damage if newly-qualified healthcare workers continue to struggle to find jobs after graduation, an expert has warned.James Buchan, a specialist in health workforce policy, said there was a "reputational risk" to the NHS if prospective students no longer saw healthcare careers as a reliable route into employment.One final year nursing student said the lack of jobs had made her question her decision to pursue her three-year degree while a paramedic graduate said she may move abroad. The Welsh government said it was working with universities, health boards and graduates to get people into work.Image caption, James Buchan says the NHS' reputation as an employer could be damagedThe warning comes as hundreds of nursing, midwifery and paramedic students remain without NHS jobs in Wales.Last month the NHS' workforce organisation, Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), confirmed that almost 400 nursing and midwifery graduates remained without NHS positions after the first round of job matching concluded. Buchan, a senior fellow at charity The Health Foundation, said new graduates expected to be able to move relatively smoothly into a career, and could potentially "begin to get discouraged" and consider alternatives. "The NHS can only sustain service delivery through a good pipeline of newly trained health professionals coming into employment," he said."If that pipeline reduces or is partly blocked, that in turn creates service challenges."He added policy had focused on dealing with the consequences after graduates struggled to find jobs, rather than addressing the causes sooner.The NHS graduate job crisis explaine...