NHS urged to boost number of nursing apprenticeships

England’s Chief Nursing Officer, Ruth May, has called on NHS organisations to boost the number of nursing apprenticeships they offer to local people.

Almost 1,800 new nursing apprentices have already started their training over the last couple of years – but NHS chiefs want thousands more to be given the opportunity to earn while they learn.

The latest NHS recruits, of whom May met in Cambridge, are given a triple package of on-the-job training, free tuition fees and an annual wage, meaning people of all ages have a chance to earn while they learn to provide care. Cambridge University Hospital Trust is planning to hire 100 nursing apprentices per year.

Increasing nursing apprentices is just one part of a turbocharged national recruitment campaign, helping deliver the government’s commitment to increase the nursing workforce in England by 50,000.

May said: “The NHS is providing world class care for more patients than ever before, and to carry on doing that we need 50,000 more nurses. Boosting the number of nursing apprentices is one important way we can achieve that goal, and as we deliver on our NHS Long Term Plan we want local health service employers to ramp up the number of opportunities they offer to people in their areas.”

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This story was first published in digitalhealth.net

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