In a joint letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremey Hunt MP, the Association for Modern Universities MillionPlus and the Royal College of Nursing have called for a model of fee loan forgiveness for nurses who practice in the public services..
"It is our belief that there is an excessive level of risk to the future pipeline in registered nursing and that the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, of which you were proud, is at risk of appearing unviable or irrelevant," the letter states. "The critical shortfall of nursing staff poses a significant threat to the NHS’ ability to navigate forthcoming challenges.
The letter goes on to outline the scale of the issue before identifying a root cause of the problem:
"To fulfill the ambitious goals outlined in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the annual intake of nursing students needs to average 29,000 between 2023 and 2031, solely to meet the NHS's staffing requirements. Universities, and in particular modern universities who train around 70% of new nurses, stand ready to meet this challenge. However, the current pipeline, represented by the 2023/24 nursing student cohort, stands at only 22,470, highlighting a significant shortfall. To further complicate matters, current recruitment efforts primarily rely on overseas professionals, posing long-term sustainability challenges for the NHS. Further compounding this critical situation, university admission figures reveal a worrying 26% decline in nursing applications over the past two years, making a bad situation worse.
"The burden of student debt coupled with real terms cuts in maintenance grants for nursing students act as significant disincentives for talented individuals to pursue this vital career path. These financial pressures are part of a vicious cycle of understaffing, ultimately jeopardising the quality of care delivered by our NHS."
