Rethink nurse training

THE public have been aware for some time that the NHS has been relying on nursing agencies to fill vacancies and cover sick leave, no one more so than those patients who have experienced inconsistent care delivered by different hospital staff.

One can’t solely blame the agencies for lack of NHS planning when it comes to training, recruitment and retention of staff.

In the early Nineties, the training of nurses was moved from teaching hospitals to universities. Hospitals were no longer able to regulate the number of ‘home-trained’ nurses and predict how many were required.

Before then, recruitment was twice a year and numbers depended on requirements. Tutors were on the wards working with the permanent staff and nursing students to teach good clinical care.

At the same time, the second level nurse training (SEN) was abolished, losing a dedicated clinical workforce.

As soon as nurse training transferred to universities, salaries during training were abolished (trainee nurses had previously worked as part of the workforce rota) and they were given bursaries as they were no longer part of the clinical team.

Universities have only one intake of nursing students a year. If a student withdraws from the course, the shortfall remains unfilled. Students often change courses.

Much of the poor clinical care in hospitals can be attributed to the way nurses are trained. One doesn’t learn confidence and interpersonal skills in a classroom. When the clinical area is already short of permanent staff, they don’t have time to teach student nurses on placements.

Nurses haven’t had a proper pay rise for years: you can’t blame them for going to work for agencies. It’s time for a review of basic nurse training. JOAN COLLACOTT, Exeter, Devon.