Nursing at risk due to ‘short-sighted’ training cuts

The lack off strategic planning in cuts to education funding for nurses and midwives will hard NHS reforms in the future, a new report says.

The Council of Deans of Health, which represents the UK’s university faculties engaged in education and research for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, has claimed that central funding for ongoing education and training of the workforce has been halved in 2016/17 while funding for ongoing medical education has been protected.

The report, ‘A False Economy: Cuts to Continuing Professional Development Funding for nursing, midwifery and the Allied Health Professionals in England’, examines the impact of recent cuts to the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) budget.

The group calls for the Department of Health to lead a discussion to address and ‘recognise the gap’ between the disconnect between the funding decisions and national strategic priorities. Spending cuts were ‘at odds’ with the Five Year Forward View and General Practice Forward View, it says, both of which require substantial changes to workforce roles.

The report also warns about the potential consequences of the cuts for the government’s push to expand student numbers as part of plans to reduce staff shortages, after the Department of Health recently announced that it is abolishing bursaries for student nurses and other healthcare professionals, leading to warnings that this could cause staff numbers to fall further.

Professor Dame Jessica Corner, chair of the Council of Deans of Health, said: “We urgently need more joined-up thinking about funding for education and training for these professions.

“There is a clear gap between the government’s strategies to transform services by deploying nurses, midwives and AHPs in new roles and these short-sighted cuts. These cuts are difficult for universities but will have a far greater impact on the NHS and its ability to deliver its own objectives.”

Stephanie Aiken, deputy director of nursing at the Royal College of Nursing, said: “This report highlights yet another case of cuts without thought for the impact on staff and patients. Funding for training and development has been cut almost by half, yet the strategy for the health service and the care it delivers has not adapted to reflect this loss.

“If the government wants to achieve the goal of safe and up to date care, it needs to provide the funding for training, development and education – it’s that simple. If the two remain disconnected the health service cannot deliver to current and future needs.”