Number of nursing students "collapses" in South East and Oxfordshire
The Royal College of Nursing says more needs to be done to encourage people into nursing
The number of people studying to become nurses has fallen across the South East of England and Oxfordshire region, an analysis reveals.
The number of people studying to become nurses has "collapsed" in every region in the country according to the The Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
The RCN says “entire regions in England are being left behind by a failing nurse education system”, warning that it's "putting the government’s plan to rescue the NHS at risk”.
In the South East, there's been a nineteen percent drop in students taking up nursing courses over the past three years - falling from 2,425 to 1,975.
Sarah Johnston, their Head of Operations for the South East said:
"We are already under pressure - we are campaigning to get more nurses into education.
"It's not happening, the numbers are going in the opposite direction.
"So absolutely, unless we address this, we'll find ourselves in difficulty."
She continued that they "want to see working conditions to improve".
"More nurses on the ward, more nurses in care homes or on the front line means they can look after patients much better.
"It's less pressure, and less stress."
Ahead of the budget, the RCN are now calling on the government to introduce financial incentives, including a loan forgiveness model for students who commit to working in the NHS following graduation and funding for living costs.
Changes made in 2016 saw bursaries for nurse education scrapped, meaning students now pay more than £9,000 each year to join the profession.
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “Nursing is an incredible career, but to fix a broken NHS, the government must fix a broken nurse education model.
“We desperately need more people to join the profession, but the reality is nursing numbers are going in the wrong direction.
“Ministers are right to want to modernise the NHS and shift care into the community, but to do that you must make nursing an attractive career once again.
That means forgiving the tuition fee loans of those who commit to working in the health service and funding their living costs.
Investment in nursing is always money well spent.”
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan aims to grow the nursing workforce from around 350,000 nurses to around 550,000 in 2036/37.