Action call on nurse shortages

A government plan derided as a “quick fix” by Unite to recruit 5,000 overseas nurses a year to help stem chronic NHS staff shortages has been shelved, according to a report.

The move increases pressure on the government to reverse drastic cuts to the health service and reinstate nursing bursaries in order to prevent serving nurses leaving and encourage more people into the profession.

The much awaited strategy to tackle health service workforce shortages had included a target of recruiting 5,000 overseas nurses a year until 2024.

But according to a report in the Observer, the 5,000 figure has now been removed from the latest version of the plan, although it is understood that the need to significantly increase overseas recruitment is still mentioned.

There is speculation that the figure was scrubbed because of the political problems it would cause the government, which has pledged to reduce net migration.

Conservative peer Baroness Harding, who chairs the NHS Improvement regulator, is in charge of creating the plan along with senior NHS bosses.

Currently more than 100,000 NHS roles are unfilled, with staff shortages expected to increase over the coming years.

The aim to recruit 5,000 nurses from abroad was initially proposed in an NHS Improvement report that was leaked to The Times earlier this month.

It said thousands of overseas nurses will be needed in the next few years to prop up struggling healthcare services, pointing out that a lack of planning for the increase in demand caused by an ageing population has resulted in overworked nurses leaving the profession in droves.

However the recruitment drive would still not have been enough to fill the yawning gaps in the NHS’ workforce, the report admitted.

Unite national officer for health, Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe, said Tory attacks on the NHS were the underlying reason why the overseas recruitment drive would have done little to stem the chronic shortfall of nurses.

“Years of underinvestment in services, frozen pay and a cynical expectation that already overstretched staff will pick up the slack have led to (the staffing crisis),” explained Jarrett-Thorpe.

“Additionally, the scrapping of the NHS student bursary means that prospective nurses are being put off by the thought of shouldering massive debts for very little financial return.”

While making clear that overseas healthcare staff “always have and always will play an integral part in the NHS”, Jarrett-Thorpe said the Tories had been looking for a “quick fix” by trying to entice large numbers of nurses from abroad.

He added, “Staff shortages at their current levels can only be solved by supporting serving nurses with adequate resources and funds and by reestablishing student bursaries so that there’s enough nurses in the future.”

Responding to the report about the scrapping of the overseas recruitment target, an NHS Improvement spokesperson said, “NHS Improvement and the Department of Health and Social Care are finalising the interim (workforce) plan which should be published shortly.”