Talking down nursing is dangerous – current recruitment levels prove it

It takes three years to train, so the current shortfall won’t be solved until 2026, writes Ian Hamilton

We have an ageing population with a range of health problems that will need nurses (EPA)

One of the few benefits to emerge from the Covid pandemic was a rise in training applications for nursing.

This has proved to be shortlived, with an 18 per cent drop in applicants in England; and a 24 per cent fall in Scotland over the last year. At a time when the need for healthcare professionals is growing, this reduction in those signing up to train as a nurse is really worrying.

It takes three years to train, so the current shortfall won’t be solved until 2026. Meanwhile, we have an ageing population with a range of health problems that will need nurses in greater numbers than ever if they are to receive the treatment and care they require.

Polling carried out by Ucas suggests that many 18-year-olds are thinking more carefully about which degree they will choose – and what career that could lead to, including its potential earnings. It seems the increasing cost of food, energy and housing is playing into this, putting some young people off taking up nursing altogether.

No doubt this will also have been influenced by industrial action taken by nurses as they fight for improved pay and conditions. Unfortunately, this adds to the perception by young people that nursing is poorly remunerated and stressful.

It’s not straightforward: there are hundreds of thousands of nurses and their pay ranges from £25,000 up to £80,000 (though those at the higher end are more senior and likely hold managerial – rather than purely clinical – roles). Yet the most recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) data suggests the current UK average salary is just over £33,000, and the starting salary for a nurse is £27,000 – almost a fifth below the UK average.

Most people, when asked in surveys, support the idea of a pay increase for nurses – but when also asked whether they would agree to a rise in taxation to fund that pay rise, they become a little lukewarm.

So, what are the pros of going into nursing? Well, although not particularly well paid, virtually all those who train are guaranteed work when they graduate; something that many other university departments can only dream of. In addition to job security, nurses’ pay increases annually as they progress up the pay scale, taking them to the UK national average wage by year four in the job – the maximum they can achieve without further promotion.

Nurses need to survive, pay bills, eat and have somewhere to live. Pay is an important issue – and will only take on additional importance if it is a factor that is putting off the next generation of nurses. Therefore, it seems to me that unions and the government must both proceed with great care to ensure that they aren’t at risk of permanently damaging recruitment.

One encouraging development has been the government’s commitment to a workforce plan for nursing and other healthcare staff; meaning that evidence will be used to forecast the number of future training places.

This is a significant advancement over what has been happening – where the number of nurse training places fluctuated from year to year; not on the basis of need, but what the minister of the day thought was affordable and appropriate.

Little wonder, then, that the bill for private agency nurses to fill the inevitable workforce gaps rose year on year – funded by the taxpayer. It is the definition of incompetence to put a much-needed workforce plan in place, and then undermine the potential benefit of this by talking down the very profession that you hope to attract.

Resolving the current industrial action in nursing is about much more than pay – but unless it is resolved quickly, we will all pay a heavy price in years to come. We simply won’t have the number of nurses we need.

It’s not just time to talk, it’s time to talk up nursing as a desirable profession – not down.