, Member of Parliament for St
Austell and Newquay has welcomed the news that the Government has
met its manifesto commitment to recruit an additional 50,000
nurses six months early.
Data published this week
by NHS England shows there were 51,245 additional nurses
in September 2023 compared to 2019. This means the number of
nurses have increased from 300,904 in 2019 to over 352,000 –
hitting the Government’s manifesto commitment to recruit an
additional 50,000 nurses six months early.
Commenting, Steve said:
“It is great to see the Government fulfil another manifesto
commitment by recruiting more than 50,000 nurses since 2019. In
the south west this equates to 5,267 more nurses – a 19% increase
since 2019.”
“This is excellent news for the NHS and will mean increased
capacity for existing staff and better care for patients.”
“There is always more to do and I will continue to work to
ensure investment in the NHS work force and services in Cornwall
to ensure the best possible care is provided for local
people.”
Health and Social Care Secretary said:
“There are 50,000 extra nurses in the NHS caring for our
loved ones, delivering extra appointments and improving access
for patients.”
“We have delivered on our promise but we won’t stop here. The
first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will help to retain our
current workforce, reform clinical practice, and deliver the
biggest training expansion in NHS history, almost doubling the
number of adult nurse training places by 2031.”
“These additional nurses will help support cutting waiting
lists – which is one of our five priorities – and getting
patients the care they need, when they need it.”
This is the largest ever sustained growth in the NHS nursing
workforce, with the expanded workforce delivering hundreds of
thousands of extra appointments, helping to tackle waiting lists
and improve access for patients.
The 50,000 nurses commitment has been achieved through boosting
training and education routes into nursing, ethically recruiting
internationally and actions to improve the retention of the
existing workforce. This includes a financial support package for
nursing students – the NHS Learning Support Fund - providing
eligible nursing, midwifery and allied health professions
students with non-repayable grants of at least £5,000 per
academic year to ensure course sustainability.
Building on this achievement, the NHS Long Term Workforce
Plan - backed by over £2.4 billion over five years –
sets out three priority areas to train, retain and reform the
health workforce.
The plan will significantly expand domestic education, training
and recruitment and will deliver more nurses than ever before. It
will almost double the number of adult nurse training places by
2031, with around 24,000 more nurse and midwife training places a
year by 2031. This will include over 5,000 more mental and
learning disability nurses a year.
By improving culture, leadership, and wellbeing, the Government
is aiming to ensure up to 130,000 fewer staff leave the NHS over
the next 15 years. For example, the NHS and Government will
improve flexible opportunities for prospective retirees to keep
them in the NHS workforce for longer; and make it easier for
those who have already left to come back in flexible, contracted
roles or as a temp.
Taken together, these recruitment and retention measures will
mean the health service has at least an extra 170,000 more nurses
in place by 2036/37.
