Care England and the NCF have welcomed the Health Select Committee’s key report on the nursing workforce; while it may not be in the headlines, the report does touch on the extremely important issue of nursing in the social care sector.
Professor Martin Green OBE, chief executive of Care England, says: “The nursing workforce within social care settings is often overlooked by that of the NHS. A national workforce strategy needs to respond to the workforce pressures in social care as well as those within the NHS.
"There is evidence to show that the social care sector is facing significant challenges in retaining and recruiting registered nurses particularly as a consequence of competition with the NHS as the report acknowledges This fall in numbers is also replicated in the number of nursing home beds since the start of austerity measures”.
Sharon Blackburn CBE, RGN RMN, policy and communications director at the NCF, says: "The inclusion of nurses working in social care, in particular care nomes with nursing, is a welcome recognition of the 43,000 nurses that work in adult social care.
"The NHS is not the only place where registered nurses are employed. In care homes with nursing a range of complex care (including people living with dementia), is delivered in the context of relationship centred care. Ensuring that there are sufficient nurses to meet people's health and care needs in a safe, effective and compassionate way is essential."
The report notes 8000 nurses have left social care since 2012-13 and CQC reports a fall of 4000 registered nursing beds over the last two years despite rising levels of demand and complexity of need (including increasing levels of patients being delayed in hospital due to availability of nursing home beds).
Professor Green continues: “This market shift is being driven by rising costs not being compensated by fees being paid by local authorities and the NHS, and providers are being constrained in their flexibility to invest in nursing care services going forward.”
The report does set out a number of recommendations that cover nurses in all sectors such as the need to ensure the language testing for overseas nurses is monitored carefully and regularly in order to ensure that it is not placing unnecessary barriers to UK practice. In addition we cannot stress enough the importance of the report’s recommendation that the Government must ensure reliable data from all sectors is available to inform workforce planning.
Professor Green adds: “The English language tests are a vital safeguard but must be proportionately and realistically applied to ensure that good nurses from overseas can work in our sector. We hope the Government and others will see this as a priority for review going forward”.
