NEWS
Cut agency staff and use money to train nurses, says think tank By Katie Osborne
@NS_reporter
Boosting nurse training places would save the NHS millions of pounds and improve patient safety, a leading think tank has said. Independent cross-party body Civitas has called on the health service to invest more in training instead of spending about £2.5 billion a year on all agency staff, locums and overseas recruitment. A larger pool of dependable staff would also enhance workforce stability, it has said in a report published last week. Healthcare researcher Edmund Stubbs, who wrote the report, said: ‘It is evident that a lack of staff is leading to excessive spending on agency staff, locums and overseas recruitment, exhausting financial resources that could be better used in training and employing full-time staff.’ The report, Training our NHS health workers: should the UK train more of its staff?, points to cuts in nurse training places since the
coalition government came to power – from 25,904 in 2010/11 to 21,529 in 2012/13. It says this drop is ‘a worrying trend given that nearly half (45%) of nurses in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland are over the age of 45 and approaching retirement’. The think tank’s report estimates that there will be about 54,000 applicants for 20,033 training places in 2015/16.
‘THERE ARE ENOUGH PEOPLE OUT THERE WANTING TO COME INTO THE PROFESSION’ It also highlights that by the end of this year the NHS will have spent more than £1 billion on agency nursing – equivalent to the regular employment cost of 28,000 whole-time equivalent nurses of varying seniority, or three years’ training for about 19,600 additional nurses. More than £70 million is spent annually on employing overseas staff, according to the report. The typical charge for a consultant from an agency is £1,760 a day,
equivalent to a pro-rata salary of £459,096. This compares with an NHS consultant’s salary of between £75,249 and £101,451. Safe Staffing Alliance chair Susan Osborne welcomed the report and said current Health Education England workforce planning was ‘fundamentally flawed’. ‘There is sufficient evidence to show that there are enough people out there wanting to come into the profession, so let’s start investing and stop wasting money on quick fixes,’ she said. An RCN report published in February revealed that the cost of agency nurses to the NHS had increased by 150% since 2012/13. At the time, college general secretary Peter Carter accused the health service of taking a ‘payday loans’ attitude towards workforce planning, leaving itself at the mercy of agencies because it had refused to invest sensibly in the past. ‘Cutting the number of nurses was reckless and short-sighted,’ he said. To read the report go to tinyurl.com/mudk9vp
Staff learn the art of handling difficult conversations Nurses in north east England have been learning how best to broach potentially difficult conversations with patients as part of a continuing professional development programme. Northumbria University director of programmes Gillian Walton developed tutorials using role play for nurses and carers working in cancer care. Staff who might need to apply the techniques to a variety of circumstances also take part. Sharron Surrey, a ward sister at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, said: ‘The masterclass helped me learn to step outside the situation and de-personalise matters that are emotionally charged.’ Find out more at tinyurl.com/q8rpyfg
Gillian Walton uses role play in her tutorials
NURSING aprilNo8other :: voluses 29 no 32 ::permission. 2015 11 DownloadedSTANDARD from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 14, 2015. For personal use only. without Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cut agency staff and use money to train nurses, says think tank By Katie Osborne
@NS_reporter
Boosting nurse training places would save the NHS millions of pounds and improve patient safety, a leading think tank has said. Independent cross-party body Civitas has called on the health service to invest more in training instead of spending about £2.5 billion a year on all agency staff, locums and overseas recruitment. A larger pool of dependable staff would also enhance workforce stability, it has said in a report published last week. Healthcare researcher Edmund Stubbs, who wrote the report, said: ‘It is evident that a lack of staff is leading to excessive spending on agency staff, locums and overseas recruitment, exhausting financial resources that could be better used in training and employing full-time staff.’ The report, Training our NHS health workers: should the UK train more of its staff?, points to cuts in nurse training places since the
coalition government came to power – from 25,904 in 2010/11 to 21,529 in 2012/13. It says this drop is ‘a worrying trend given that nearly half (45%) of nurses in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland are over the age of 45 and approaching retirement’. The think tank’s report estimates that there will be about 54,000 applicants for 20,033 training places in 2015/16.
‘THERE ARE ENOUGH PEOPLE OUT THERE WANTING TO COME INTO THE PROFESSION’ It also highlights that by the end of this year the NHS will have spent more than £1 billion on agency nursing – equivalent to the regular employment cost of 28,000 whole-time equivalent nurses of varying seniority, or three years’ training for about 19,600 additional nurses. More than £70 million is spent annually on employing overseas staff, according to the report. The typical charge for a consultant from an agency is £1,760 a day,
equivalent to a pro-rata salary of £459,096. This compares with an NHS consultant’s salary of between £75,249 and £101,451. Safe Staffing Alliance chair Susan Osborne welcomed the report and said current Health Education England workforce planning was ‘fundamentally flawed’. ‘There is sufficient evidence to show that there are enough people out there wanting to come into the profession, so let’s start investing and stop wasting money on quick fixes,’ she said. An RCN report published in February revealed that the cost of agency nurses to the NHS had increased by 150% since 2012/13. At the time, college general secretary Peter Carter accused the health service of taking a ‘payday loans’ attitude towards workforce planning, leaving itself at the mercy of agencies because it had refused to invest sensibly in the past. ‘Cutting the number of nurses was reckless and short-sighted,’ he said. To read the report go to tinyurl.com/mudk9vp
Staff learn the art of handling difficult conversations Nurses in north east England have been learning how best to broach potentially difficult conversations with patients as part of a continuing professional development programme. Northumbria University director of programmes Gillian Walton developed tutorials using role play for nurses and carers working in cancer care. Staff who might need to apply the techniques to a variety of circumstances also take part. Sharron Surrey, a ward sister at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead, said: ‘The masterclass helped me learn to step outside the situation and de-personalise matters that are emotionally charged.’ Find out more at tinyurl.com/q8rpyfg
Gillian Walton uses role play in her tutorials
NURSING aprilNo8other :: voluses 29 no 32 ::permission. 2015 11 DownloadedSTANDARD from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 14, 2015. For personal use only. without Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
