Oral Answers to Questions

Rachel Maclean Excerpts

Tuesday 10th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Children who come from troubled or chaotic family backgrounds are far more likely to have mental health issues. I am more than happy to meet her and to feed her thoughts into our mental health Green Paper.

[Rachel Maclean (Redditch) (Con)]

2. What steps he is taking to broaden routes into nursing.

[The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt)]

Developing new routes into nursing is a priority for my Department, which was why last week I announced plans to train 12,500 new nursing associates through the apprentice route in the next two years and to increase the number of nurses we train by 25%—the biggest increase in the history of the NHS.

[Rachel Maclean]

I welcome the fact that there are currently record numbers of nurses working in the NHS, but what is the Secretary of State doing to provide assurances to hospitals, such as the Alex in my constituency, that have faced issues with recruitment and retention? I very much welcome the new routes into nursing, including degree apprenticeships. What further actions does he propose to take?

[Mr Hunt]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this issue. The Alex is going through a difficult period and I know that as the local MP she is giving it a lot of support. The fact is that in 2014 we turned down 37,000 applicants to nurse degree courses. That is why we think that we need to do much, much better in training a number of people who would make brilliant nurses. That was why we announced the big increase last week, which will help the Alex and many other hospitals.