Faculty of Health and Society Dean, Dr Steve O’Brien, shares his thoughts on nurse shortages ahead of today’s House of Lords debate

Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour) will today at 3pm ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to eradicate the shortage of trained nurses in the National Health Service and care sector. Ahead of the House of Lords questioning, Dr Steve O’Brien, Dean of the University of Northampton’s Faculty of Health and Society, shares his views…

“Over the past few weeks there has been a lot written in the media about the fall in applications to nursing courses across England. According to official University College Application Service (UCAS) statistics, this fall is on average 23%. Many have attributed this fall to the removal of bursary support for student fees and maintenance costs.

While many of us expected a fall, the media and some within the profession have painted a catastrophic picture. There are major concerns being expressed that this will only compound the national nursing shortage. So much so that Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour) will ask Her Majesty’s Government today what plans they have to eradicate the shortage of trained nurses in the National Health Service and care sector.

In response to the shortages, many NHS Trusts have been recruiting from overseas to fill gaps. Recruitment from overseas is always seen as a temporary measure and given the current political position as we move to Brexit questions are being asked about the sustainability of such an approach. However, this is not the full story and it’s important to understand what sits beneath those headline application figures. It is correct that applications have fallen but the overall number of applications remains high. Courses remain oversubscribed. In addition, the applicant to places available ratio remains good – and in Northampton’s case this is touching 5:1. Data collected across England shows a similar situation to that being experienced in Northampton. No need to panic then? Indeed, the Council of Deans for Health concluded as such.

What is interesting is that the bursary changes impacted on all health professions courses – not just nursing – yet we hear very little in the media about Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy where applications are equally down. I’d suggest the latter do not make good press headlines. So whilst Lord Clark’s question is welcome, does it reflect the thinking and discussion taking place in the NHS across England as the Sustainable Transformation Plans (STPs) are developing? The STPs aim to transform the services across the NHS and Health and Social care in local geographies. These discussions are challenging the status quo on workforce profile. So how many nurses, physiotherapists and OTs does the system need and importantly what will they be doing? Are new or hybrid roles required?

For example in Northamptonshire we have seen the introduction of the Nursing Associate role in line with developments across England, with about 1,000 recruits already started courses nationally and a further 1,000 planned for April. To be clear, Nursing Associates are not nurses and there are concerns about their emerging roles, however what is not in doubt is that they will make a contribution to nursing as shaped by nurses. With new education standards emerging for nursing this year we can expect a stretch in the scope and competence of the registered nurse workforce. With the heat also being turned up on apprenticeship models of education in health and social care as we close in on organisations having to pay their apprenticeship levy from April this year, we can foresee a mixed economy of education preparation options emerge over the next 18 months. It will be interesting to see the response to Lord Clark’s question but whether it will have any lasting impact on the direction of workforce development remains to be seen.”