Reform nursing training placements to help tackle the recruitment crisis, says MillionPlus, the Association for Modern Universities
Vice-Chancellor at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Professor Graham Baldwin, has overseen the publication his first report in his new role as Chair of MillionPlus, the Association for Modern Universities.
The new report analyses the challenge of meeting an increased demand for more nurses within the NHS alongside the need for a resilient and flexible clinical placements system to boost and support growth. Modern universities are uniquely placed to offer insight into this: they collectively train around two-thirds of all student nurses.
"Adopting the recommendations in this report would allow universities and the NHS to continue to educate the high-class nursing professionals of tomorrow."
— Professor Graham Baldwin, UCLan's Vice Chancellor and MillionPlus Chair
The report explores how demand for more nurses coming into the NHS within England and Scotland is ever growing, and evidences the huge breadth of health education innovations underway in modern universities to educate, train and support student nurses for the benefit of a robust NHS. The briefing also calls for the UK and Scottish governments to urgently reform the clinical training placements system to ensure a healthy supply of nurses across the NHS, suggesting that the lessons learned by modern universities in recent years can help to provide a blueprint for these reforms.
Professor Graham Baldwin UCLan’s Vice-Chancellor Chair, MillionPlus, says:
“Now is the time for governments in both Westminster and Holyrood to invest in the education of nurses to ensure the NHS meets the increased demand for its services. The recommendations outlined in this report would allow for additional student recruitment, see more stable investment in nursing education and training and allow for more efficient use of existing resources to free up placement capacity. Adopting these recommendations would allow universities and the NHS to continue to educate the high-class nursing professionals of tomorrow.”
MillionPlus currently has 22 member universities, of which UCLan is one.