Nurses and Midwives: Numbers

Lord Rennard Excerpts

Monday 4th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

I agree with my noble friend’s point on communication. I shall certainly look at whether we can do that better as an NHS. It is why I do not miss an opportunity from the Dispatch Box to say how much those nurses are valued and how much we want them to stay. That is what the Government are committed to doing. I mentioned the increase in the number of training places which my noble friend has pointed out. New UCAS data out today show that the picture is slightly better even than when we talked about it last week. Although the total is slightly down on last year, it is the second-highest number of nurses recruited in the history of nursing being a degree profession.

[Lord Rennard (LD)]

My Lords, is this not a problem particularly given that 35,000 nurses and midwives left the profession last year? Does the Minister agree with the Royal College of Nursing that the problem is made worse by the loss of student bursaries, deterring more mature students from applying to train as nurses and denying the profession the benefit of their valuable life experience?

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

Retention is critical. A number of nurses have gone through return-to-practice programmes to make sure they can come back into the profession. I recognise that today’s UCAS data show that while the number of applications has risen among the under-21s, it has fallen among the over-21s. It is important to point out that financial support is available for those people, in terms of both help with childcare and extra financial support. Now, for the first time, we are providing funding for second degrees if they are in nursing.