The number of people studying to become a nurse has fallen in every region in England, potentially putting the government’s 10 Year Health Plan at risk, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has found.
Latest regional data from the university admissions service (UCAS) showed that the number of people accepted onto nursing courses fell by up to 40% in parts of England between 2020 and 2023, according to analysis by the RCN.
The nursing union is warning that entire regions are being left behind by a failing nurse education system, sharing their concerns just one week after the government launched it’s 10 Year Health Plan consultation to address a ‘broken NHS.’
The RCN is calling on the government to introduce a ‘loan forgiveness model’ and funding support for living costs for students who commit to working in the NHS following graduation.
In the North East of England, the hardest-hit region, acceptances onto pre-registration nursing courses have dropped by 40%, with the union concerned this could mean fewer nurses for the region going forward.
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The fall in acceptances varied across regions, with the West Midlands and London seeing the lowest decline in accepted applications, at 14% and 12% each.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan aims to grow the nursing workforce from around 350,000 nurses to around 550,000 in 2036/37.
However, the RCN’s analysis shows that the plan is yet to affect numbers, with only 1,000 extra people a year currently forecast to start nursing courses in 2029 compared with a decade earlier.
There are currently over 31,000 unfilled nursing posts in the NHS in England.
Changes made in 2016 saw bursaries for nurse education scrapped, meaning students now pay over £9,000 each year to join the profession.
The RCN says nursing students need specific funding commitments to encourage more domestic recruitment.
The findings come as the RCN joins other royal colleges in calling for a House of Commons inquiry into unrealistic workforce plans.
RCN general secretary and chief executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said: ‘The prospect of huge debt and lack of financial support is putting off the nurses of the future, threatening to leave patients without the highly trained nursing professionals they desperately need.
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‘Nursing is an incredible career, but to fix a broken NHS, the government must fix a broken nurse education model.’
Professor Ranger said more people need to be encouraged into nursing, to help fill vacancies as demand for nursing services continues to rise.
She added: ‘Ministers are right to want to modernise the NHS and shift care into the community, but to do that you must make nursing an attractive career once again.
‘That means forgiving the tuition fee loans of those who commit to working in the health service and funding their living costs. Investment in nursing is always money well spent.’
Speaking at the Covid-19 Inquiry in September England’s former chief nursing officer (CNO), Dame Ruth May, said the removal of the bursary for student nurses was a ‘catastrophic decision’ which had a lasting impact on the nursing workforce and the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Earlier this month the new CNO, Duncan Burton, appealed to primary care community care nurses to help inform the government’s 10-year plan for the health service, by sharing examples of good practice and innovation.
According to RCN analysis of regional UCAS data, acceptances on pre-registration nursing courses fell by the following between 2020-2023:
- East Midlands: fell from 1,910 to 1,625
- East of England: fell from 2,065 to 1,610
- London: fell from 4,110 to 3,630
- North East: fell from 1,580 to 945
- North West: fell from 4,910 to 4,040
- South East: fell from 2,425 to 1,975
- South West: fell from 1,650 to 1,235
- West Midlands fell from 3,505 to 3,000
- Yorks/Humber: fell from 2,795 to 2,100
