Yesterday, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care gave a speech in which he confirmed plans to offer financial support for nursing students.
Commenting on the announcement, Richard Murray, Chief Executive of The King’s Fund, said:
'The rapid introduction of maintenance grants for student nurses is a welcome early sign that the new government intends to tackle the chronic staff shortages that bedevil the NHS and social care. The measure should help address the financial problems that lead many student nurses to drop out of training and incentivise applicants in shortage occupations such as learning disability nursing.
‘Initiatives to recruit more home-grown nurses are just one piece of the puzzle. The immediate crisis is so severe that new nurses will also need to be ethically recruited from overseas.
‘As well as attracting new staff, it will be equally important to keep hold of existing employees. The Secretary of State today set out his ambition for a more compassionate and supportive culture. He and his national bodies have a responsibility to support NHS managers by modelling those behaviours.’