Eu Nurse Applicants Drop By 96% Since Brexit Vote

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40248366

Anybody still think that the NHS is safe on Tory hands ?

[Flonska]

Sqad @ 16:56 . . .

Health Secretary in 2007

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Hewitt

[Sqad]

Flonska......that's her.
Thanks.

[fiction-factory]

It's understandabale that the uncertainty following the Brexit vote the UK is now a much less attractive option to nurses from elswhere in the EU. Some may not be sure that they will be able to stay long term, however much we say they will be able to stay. And some may have been persuaded by scare stories that the anti immigrant Brits will make them feel unwelcome.
The language tests are also a factor.
Finally, the drop off should have been anticipated and the reliance on overseas nurses should have been addressed years ago. More should have been done and must now be done to recruit UK nurses. The requirement for a degree seems highly questionable; the replacement of bursaries by loans may have put off those who do not understnd how loans work; and the cap on pay won't have helped.
I don' see that the Labour/Tory aspect is relevant. The problem has existed for many years under Balir and Cameron.

[woofgang]

The drive to eliminate the SEN grade was spearheaded by the RCN. Back in the 90’s they decided that they wanted to raise the profile of nurses in the UK and turn it into a degree only profession. They brought in a nurse from the US whose name now escapes me. Her remit was to raise the profile of nursing at government level and to get more nurses in to senior management roles. She did a stellar job but I am not sure it was good for the NHS or for other non nursing professions.

[ABerrant]

The controversial GP contracts (22% pay rise and an opt out of weekend and evening treatment) was implemented in 2004 by Dr John Reid (a proponent of increased privatisation in the NHS), although they had been negotiated by the previous Health Secretary Alan Milburn (a proponent of increased privatisation in the NHS).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reid,_Baron_Reid_of_Cardowan

[Old_Geezer]

A nurse should nurse.
That is a care job not a degree level job.

[cassa333]

There no doubt that it is a difficult one to make better.

But we do need to try. Take back nursing to nursing care and make the entry and progression within the 'industry' easier for those willing and able to do the work.

Stop trying to make the nurses sudo Drs and leave the doctoring To doctors.

Make it about the caring nature again and perhaps people will start to come back.

Make the career a viable option by showing respect to the job and the people doing itrather than fawning at the feet of overqualification.

Obviously pay needs to be appropriate as well.

If I am honest I think the minimum wage is a double edged sword. On the one hand it stops (to a large degree) employers exploiting the lower end of the jobs market but on the other every *** and their dog is on the lowest pay rate unless they get far up the pole. Get a viable and achieveable banding.

[woofgang]

I see nothing whatsoever wrong with nurses having degrees. Having a degree or degree equivalent doesn’t stop people getting their hands dirty and there are plenty of graduate nurses and graduates in other professions both within and outside of health, who would agree with me. Its not the degree, its the attitude.

[Garaman]

I don't think that there is anything wrong with nurses having degrees, if that is the way they wish to go, it is the shift of training from the ward to the classroom which is questionable. We need them in the ward when they are training, and we don't need all of them to have degrees.

[Old_Geezer]

What is wrong with it is that it's not a degree level job. It's a symptom of the trend that everyone has to have a degree in order to feel good about their academic achievements. It's a flaw of present day society. If one wants a degree level job in the medical industry then become a doctor, or a manager, or possibly a paramedic. Or maybe be a scientist or technician in a lab.

[cassa333]

Your missing the point of degree entry level.

By making it degree entry level you STOP dead all the people that would be brilliant at nursing but will never get an opportunity because the job is no longer nursing

[jourdain2]

Exactly my point, cassa.

[pixie374]

Well said cassa and ff. I trained to be a nurse, when you only needed a Diploma and was bored senseless by just following other people's instructions and the idea seemed to be to avoid patient contact as much as possible. I went back to care work quickly, as it was more challenging and better paid. A degree is great for those working thein way up. It isn't necessary to start with. Hopefully the lack of EU applicants should also push the pay up, so that might help too.

[naomi24]

Due to educational requirements, a lot of potential is being dismissed – and hence wasted.

[gulliver1]

Mikey, nothing is safe in Tory hands .

[ToraToraTora]

what's this got to do with the Tories mikey? So since brexit no EU nurses have applied to the NHS. W_T/F has that got to do with government/NHS? Only in lefty cuckoo land is this anything but a reaction to brexit.

[New Judge]

“I see nothing whatsoever wrong with nurses having degrees.”

Nothing wrong at all. So long as it is not a prerequisite for the job. Nursing is among the 90% of jobs in the UK that do not require a degree. That’s why providing university places or up to 50% of young people is ridiculous and does them no favours. The 10% of jobs that do genuinely require a degree will be taken by those who have attended proper universities. Meanwhile those with a degree in “Meeja Studies” from Neasden Polytechnic will have a career frying hamburgers in McDonalds - or nursing.

[Mamyalynne]

I agree, it shouldn't be a prerequisite and that is precisely why applications are down - not Party Political at all.