Coronavirus: Unqualified nursing students to be drafted in to help hospitals amid UK outbreak, NHS boss reveals

NHS England chief executive confirms large numbers of patients will need specialist care in hospitals during widespread coronavirus outbreak

Nursing students are to be drafted in by the NHS to help out on hospital wards during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak, the head of NHS England has said.

Speaking at a conference of nursing leaders in Birmingham, Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England said third year unqualified nursing students would be asked to help care for patients.

The Independent understands work is on-going now with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on how the 18,000 students could be temporarily registered with the watchdog to allow them to work on wards and this could form part of the government’s emergency legislation.

Any students will be invited to work in the NHS, it will not be mandatory, and students who do will be paid for their contribution.

Mr Stevens said the coronavirus outbreak in the UK was going to mean large numbers of patients would need specialist care in hospitals warning the virus would be the "single biggest challenge facing European health services."

He said individual cases of the virus had been largely contained up to this point but added the UK would be “shortly entering a phase where we are going to be taking measures at the population level to spread the number of cases over a long period of time so the pressure over the NHS is lower than it would have been."

He said the third phase of the outbreak would see “large numbers of people need specialist support” adding: “We have a window of days, a few weeks, to get ourselves prepared."

“We are going to invite third year undergraduate nurses to come into clinical practice” he said, adding: “Coronavirus is going to be an enormous public spotlight on the brilliance of nursing, midwifery and the NHS.”

Mr Stevens praised the value of nurses in the NHS and said the health service would be embarking on a ramped up international recurrent campaign to help fill the 40,000 nursing vacancies in the NHS.

He also suggested most of the Care Quality Commission's inspections should be suspended with clinical staff leaving the regulator to return to patient care.

The CQC has said it will take a pragmatic approach to its inspection of hospitals during the coronavirus epidemic.

Professor Brian Webster-Henderson, chair of the Council of Deans of Health, which represents nursing schools around the country said: "In these exceptional circumstances, we are confident in the quality of our students and their skills and abilities in working with the NHS to support the health and care sector. Students nearing the end of their course will have gained a great deal of clinical experience during their studies and, with the support of employers, will have the option to work in a different role in a time of crisis.

“However, it is imperative that there is clarity on the roles they will be asked to perform and assurance they will be working within their competencies. Universities will also have a responsibility to monitor the impact on education, and will look for clarity from the regulators, not only around how they compensate for the loss of practice hours and teaching time but also how the additional experience they will have gained is recognised”.

Andrea Sutcliffe, chief executive of the NMC, said: “We’re working closely with the government on the proposed development of new legislation that would allow us to register individuals on an emergency basis in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

“We’re currently exploring different groups of nursing and midwifery professionals that could be registered quickly and effectively. As these plans become clearer we will share further information to help individuals and employers plan their response.”