Responding to analysis from the Nuffield Trust highlighting the large numbers of nursing students dropping out of training and opting out of careers in the NHS, Royal College of Nursing Deputy Director for Nursing, Dr Nichola Ashby, said:
“The Royal College of Nursing has long advocated for a loan forgiveness scheme for nursing staff to boost recruitment and retention to the public sector nursing workforce. Many people choose to become a nurse so that they can help care for some of the sickest and most vulnerable people in our society – and it is wrong that they should be saddled with, on average, almost £50,000 of debt.
“There are already over 40,000 nursing vacancies in England’s NHS alone. And with these figures showing the number of students on nursing courses is falling, it’s clear the government is already failing to meet the aims in the NHS Workforce Plan.
“It’s also worrying to see how we’re continuing to plug gaps by over relying on internationally recruited nursing staff.
“The government cannot afford to ignore this report and risk losing more highly trained nurses. Without immediate intervention, the nursing profession will not attract the students it urgently needs and it is patient who will ultimately suffer.”
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