Business of the House

John Hayes Excerpts
Thursday 28th March 2019

(5 years, 7 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Andrea Leadsom Portrait Andrea Leadsom
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What I can say to the hon. Lady is that we are looking very carefully at bringing forward a motion later today that, very importantly, must comply with Mr Speaker’s ruling. That will be brought forward as soon as possible.

John Hayes Portrait Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)
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Two hundred thousand nurses have left the NHS in less than a decade and there are 42,000 vacancies, which is 12% of the nursing workforce. Notwithstanding a small number of apprenticeships, the fact that this is widely perceived as a graduate job has robbed nursing of those who long to care and once learned to do so. Will the Leader of the House arrange for a debate, mindful of the words of John Ruskin, who said:

“The highest reward for a person’s toil is…what they become by it”?

It is time for a debate on practical skills in which we can challenge the view that only academic accomplishment brings fulfilment. It is time, Mr Speaker, to elevate the practical.

Andrea Leadsom Portrait Andrea Leadsom
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My right hon. Friend raises the vital role of nurses. It is a good opportunity to pay tribute to the amazing work they do for so many people. What I can tell him is that there are now 16,300 more nurses on our wards than there were in 2010 and over 50,000 nurses in training. The introduction of the new nursing degree apprenticeships and nursing associate roles will help us to build the workforce we need.