NHS Nurses to be given £1,000 each to spend on training in bid to stop staff leaving

This article was taken from: https://inews.co.uk/news/health/nhs-nurses-extra-funding-pay-rise-training-budget/

By Paul Gallagher at I News

Increase part of government’s commitment to improving patient care and securing a sustainable future for the NHS

Nurses will be given £1,000 each over three years to help their careers develop in an effort by the Government to stop staff leaving the NHS.

Chancellor Sajid Javid will announce a new multi-million pound package of support to train and retain the nurses the health service needs as part of the Spending Round on Wednesday.

The increase to national training budgets for nurses as well as midwives and other frontline health professionals across the NHS is part of the government’s commitment to improving patient care and securing a sustainable future for the NHS through the Long Term Plan.

Access to additional training is regularly cited as an issue affecting morale and retention for non-medical staff, especially nurses.

The Treasury said the funding will help them “to develop rewarding, lifelong careers in the health service”.

Hospital funding

The £1,000 package will support personal learning and development needs, known to nurses as their revalidation cycle.

Hospital trusts will also be expected to provide additional funding locally to invest in their staff, according to the plans.

Nurses are required to undertake at least 35 hours of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) every three years to remain registered and demonstrate that they practise safety and effectively.

But many nurses are currently expected to fund at least part of that themselves.

Pay rise for nurses

More than 200,000 nurses are also continuing to benefit from pay rises under the Agenda for Change pay deal. Reforms also mean the starting salary for a newly qualified nurses will be £24,907 in 2020/21, 12.6 per cent higher than in 2017/18.

In total, the £210m funding boost in 2020/21 is part of the spending round, which will set departments’ budgets for the next financial year.

It will focus on public services, including the recruitment of 20,000 extra police officers and billions of pounds in additional funding for schools, and delivering the government’s promises on the NHS.

Mr Javid said: “Our nurses, midwives and other dedicated NHS professionals care for us when we need it most, so it’s right that we support them to develop rewarding and fulfilling careers, and continue to deliver the highest standards of care for patients.”

Nurses’ training

Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “After years of cutbacks, this announcement may start to put things right. Nurses will see it as an acknowledgement that the Government sees investment in professional development as important.

“This will help to ensure every individual nurse can access the training they need to increase their skills and knowledge further – though it needs to be extended to all nursing staff, not just those in the Health Service.

“We now urge the Government to address the current workforce crisis in the NHS by investing £1 billion in nurse higher education to increase our domestic supply of nurses”.