17.12.14
HEE approves more nursing course placements
The number of places on nursing courses is to increase for the second year in a row.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said this is a “step in the right direction” but said more places and a “sustained, long-term investment in nurse numbers” are needed to address the NHS staffing shortfall and rising patient demand.
Health Education England’s (HEE’s) Workforce Plan for 2015-16 confirms that, as part of its £5bn investment in education and training programmes, it will commission 370 more postgraduate medical training posts than in the 2014 plan.
There will also be more than 800 additional nursing commissions, more than 500 additional AHP commissions, and more than 800 new commissions for pharmacy, healthcare scientists and other therapeutic roles.
It stated that last year it increased nursing commissions by 9% and this year it will add another 555 training posts, a further increase of 4.2% meaning it will have invested in 13% growth over two years.
On top of this, HEE states that its ‘Return to Practice’ campaign brought nearly 800 nurses back into the system whilst also reducing attrition amongst nursing students in Universities; introducing recruiting for values and pre-degree care experience to ensure the nurses that are trained have the “right values and behaviours”.
HEE will also commission an additional 100 training posts for mental health nurses, a 3% increase.
Three objectives have been at the heart of HEE’s Workforce Plan: to support the service to address immediate gaps in key workforce areas; to expand the future workforce in priority areas, whilst securing our investment in the existing workforce to help drive service transformation.
Professor Ian Cumming, chief executive of HEE, said: “In order to transform the health service we need more investment in our existing workforce.
“We have protected our budget for workforce transformation and have increased post-registration specialist nurse commissions by nearly 1,400, advanced clinical practice commissions by more than 1,500, and grown apprenticeships by more than 600.
“We are starting to commission for the future in line with the Five Year Forward View, particularly the need to provide services in the community in line with patient need for the future whilst also making a difference to the NHS now.”
The latest strategy is, according to HEE, built upon the needs of local employers, commissioners and other stakeholders who, as members of our Local Education Training Boards (LETBs), have shaped the 13 local plans that are the bedrock of its plan for England.
But Dr Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary of the RCN, said: “Demand for the health service is rising, and with thousands of vacant posts forcing hospitals to rely on overseas and agency staff, we are playing catch up – even with this increase.
“Only a sustained, long-term investment in nurse numbers will allow the NHS to keep up with demand without patient care suffering. Failure to properly plan and invest will leave the health service reliant on overseas recruitment for years to come.”
“Demand for the health service is rising, and with thousands of vacant posts forcing hospitals to rely on overseas and agency staff, we are playing catch up – even with this increase.”
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