Nurses crisis in NHS thanks to Brexit

[Eirikur]

Even if they would get what it said on the bus, they wouldn't have anything to spend it on

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[Eirikur]

Paywall sometimes let you go through in incognito mode and sometimes not

Britain faces nursing shortfall as EU recruits stay away
Brexit triggers 87 per cent drop in European nurses registering to work in UK


Gill Plimmer in London YESTERDAY
Britain faces a nursing shortage of 20,000 permanent staff this year as the uncertainty surrounding Brexit has led to a sharp fall in recruits from the EU.

The number of European nurses registering in Britain dropped 87 per cent compared with 2016/17 figures, according to Christie & Co, a consultancy.

The pressure on the healthcare industry has been exacerbated by cuts to training and the abolition of bursaries for nursing and midwifery courses in the UK, where applications fell by a quarter.

The warning over a decline in nursing numbers comes as Britain prepares for winter. During last year’s winter crisis hundreds of thousands of patients were forced to wait in corridors and ambulances while hospitals scrambled to find space for patients.

The NHS has been working on contingency plans in the case of a no-deal Brexit, including a three-year partnership with the Jamaican government that will allow their nurses to work for the health service. It has offered more visas to nurses from parts of Asia. The number of nurses from the Philippines has risen by 14 per cent and those from India by 12 per cent.

But the number of nurses who were registered in Spain, Italy and Romania declined by more than 90 per cent in the past year. A third of the 27,800 new nurse registrations came from the EU in 2015/16 but this fell to just 3 per cent of 23,300 in 2017/18.

Overall the number of nurses declined from 659,000 in 2016 to 647,000 this year, “leaving policymakers struggling to meet the increasing demand”, said Michael Hodges, head of care at Christie & Co. “The shortage of nurses is pressing on the NHS and care homes, raising costs and perpetuating the sense of crisis,” he added.


Matt Hancock, health secretary, told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show programme on Sunday: “We’ve got to make sure that we have more nurses.

“So making sure that we can get people from around the world is important, but so too is training people domestically to go into these jobs, and making sure that we harness new technology so that the jobs can be as effective and fulfilling as possible.”

Asked whether there should be a special visa scheme for care workers, similar to a proposed system for agricultural workers, Mr Hancock said: “Well, there are discussions under way about whether that should happen.”

The nursing shortfall helped fuel the winter crisis last year, when hospital admissions rose. Emergency admissions to accident and emergency wards have grown particularly for older patients, where numbers have increased by 58.9 per cent since 2006/07 for people aged 85 years or older.

Nearly a third of care homes reported an increase in the amount spent on agency staff in the past year despite a fall in agency nurse hours, suggesting that agencies are charging more to supply workers. Staff wages account for around 60 per cent of costs.

People paying for their own care have seen a 3.9 per cent increase in fees, outstripping the 3.1 per cent increase for those paid by local authorities.

Nick Hood, care home analyst at Opus Consulting, said: “There’s a tug of war for nursing resources going on between the NHS and the elderly sector. This will put added pressure on social care and care homes, many of which are struggling for survival.”

[AtW]

Just go private (c) Boris

[vetran]

so instead of <8.7% of EU nurses who have English as a second language we could hire the UK grown Nurses (from all cultures) ?

Shocking, there should be a law against it.

I'm sure my friends who would love to be nurses may appreciate not being undercut by the cheap EU nurses!

[AtW]

Perhaps crippling student debts got something to do with the shortage, in any case this training problem can’t be solved in short term, which makes quick Brexit even more irresponsible than it already is

[darmstadt]

so instead of <8.7% of EU nurses who have English as a second language we could hire the UK grown Nurses (from all cultures) ?

Shocking, there should be a law against it.

I'm sure my friends who would love to be nurses may appreciate not being undercut by the cheap EU nurses!

I don't believe that last sentence, maybe they just never applied if it was true...

Nationals of other EU countries make up 9.7% of doctors in England's hospital and community health services. They also make up 6.8% of all nurses and 5.6% of scientific, therapeutic and technical staff. The percentage of doctors and nurses with EU nationality grew between 2009 and 2016. Since 2016, the percentage of EU nurses has fallen.

In fact the quota of non-EU nurses is higher than EU but still a hell of a lot lower than UK

NHS staff from overseas: statistics - Commons Library briefing - UK Parliament

So I don't think it is cheap EU nurses somehow...Possibly just your 'vivid' imagination.

[Eirikur]

so instead of <8.7% of EU nurses who have English as a second language we could hire the UK grown Nurses (from all cultures) ?

So why isn't that happening already?

[original PM]

Perhaps crippling student debts got something to do with the shortage, in any case this training problem can’t be solved in short term, which makes quick Brexit even more irresponsible than it already is

Yes but unless you force the change things will not change.

[Yorkie62]

Perhaps crippling student debts got something to do with the shortage, in any case this training problem can’t be solved in short term, which makes quick Brexit even more irresponsible than it already is

I thought that there were bursaries and additional grants available for those taking nursing degrees, which means that they don't come out with large student "debt". You of course need to remember that any student loan is very unlikely to be ever paid off and therefore should not be thought of as a debt but as a tax on a higher education qualification. But hat is a discussion for another thread.

I suspect that the real problem is salary, working hours, working conditions, etc. I'm all in favour of giving nurses a better deal financially.

[Eirikur]

I thought that there were bursaries and additional grants available for those taking nursing degrees, which means that they don't come out with large student "debt". You of course need to remember that any student loan is very unlikely to be ever paid off and therefore should not be thought of as a debt but as a tax on a higher education qualification. But hat is a discussion for another thread.

I suspect that the real problem is salary, working hours, working conditions, etc. I'm all in favour of giving nurses a better deal financially.

British nurses are amongst the best paid in the world, only a handful of countries pay better. They should stop complaining as their salaries already cripple the NHS budget.
Top 10 Countries with the Highest Paid Salaries for Nurses