Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of the number of nurses in the NHS.

On 4 September as part of the Spending Review, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rt. hon. Sajid Javid MP) announced a £210 million package of support for the National Health Service workforce. Funding includes personal development budgets to support nurses’ learning and development needs over the next three years, and a funding boost to wider education and training budgets to support delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan.

The latest Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) data as of 30 August, shows there were 20,190 students accepted onto nursing and midwifery courses, an increase of 4.3% compared to the same point in August 2018. We expect more students will be accepted onto courses before the UCAS clearing period closes on 23 October 2019.

NHS Improvement is currently delivering a rapid clinical placement expansion programme working with trust directors of nursing, the higher education sector and healthcare sector to provide targeted support and resource to increase placement capacity for the September 2019 intake.