Nurses and Midwives: Numbers

Lord Turnberg Excerpts

Monday 4th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

The noble Lord’s mental maths are far better than mine. I agree that it will provide for the possibility of yet more funding for the NHS, which is something that this Government have delivered in the past seven years.

[Lord Turnberg (Lab)]

My Lords, I wonder whether the Minister can help clear up my confusion. He is telling us that the number of training places is increasing while my noble friend Lady Thornton suggested that the number of people coming into those places is decreasing. What is the correct interpretation? Have we got more, fewer, or what?

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

I will do my best to provide clarity. If you look at nurse training places in universities, in 2016 the number was 3% higher than this year. One reason for that has obviously been the change in the financing arrangements. However, this year still represents the second-highest number since it became a degree profession. If we look to the future, from 2018 onwards there will be 5,000 more funded clinical placements which will enable the number of nurse training places to increase by some 20% to 25%.