Posted 19 December 2023 - 09:00
Posted 19 December 2023 - 09:00
News
Boost to nursing workforce as student places double in ten years
1,000 new nurses and midwives are set to qualify in Northern Ireland as student places increase over past decade – although 310 places were cut for 2023-24
1,000 new nurses and midwives are set to qualify in Northern Ireland as student places increase over past decade – although 310 places were cut for 2023-24
About 1,000 new nurses and midwives are set to qualify in Northern Ireland in the coming months after university places almost doubled in a decade.
Student places double in a decade
The country’s Department of Health (DoH) announced that the number of commissioned preregistration nursing and midwifery university places went up from 680 in 2012-13 to 1,335 in 2022-23, with more than 700 nurses and midwives expected to graduate this winter.
The remaining will qualify in summer 2024, with the ‘vast majority’ intending to work in Northern Ireland according to the latest destination statistics for new graduates from two universities in the country, the DoH said.
The graduates include 644 nursing and midwifery graduates from Queen’s University in Belfast and 356 nursing and mental health nursing graduates from Ulster University in Coleraine. It also includes the first cohort of 300 graduates funded as part of the New Decade, New Approach agreement in 2020.
Budget cuts have seen 310 places cut for this year
Under the agreement, the DoH committed to delivering an extra 900 nursing and midwifery undergraduate places over a three-year period, which it has achieved.
Some 149 nursing students are also set to graduate from the Open University in 2024, with all students in this programme already working in the country’s health and social care (HSC) system according to the DoH.
Earlier this year, the DoH reduced nursing and midwifery student places for 2023-24 by 310 to 1,025 due to budget cuts. It said this was about 50% higher than in 2012-13 and that it was looking to expand places in the future when ‘funding, and the assessment of priorities permits’.
Some 1,733 internationally trained nurses had also taken up posts at HSC trusts in the country as of the end of October as part of an ongoing regional recruitment initiative, with 1,609 still in post, according to the DoH.
Northern Ireland has record number of registrants, but vacancies persist
DoH chief nursing officer Maria McIlgorm said recently published figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council highlighted the ‘continued growth’ in the number of registered nurses in the country.
The data show there was a record 26,723 nurses on the Northern Ireland register at the end of September, up around 5% from 25,552 the year before. There were 1,690 registered nursing and midwifery vacancies in health and social care in September.
Ms McIlgorm added: ‘Working in the HSC system is an enormously fulfilling career choice, providing a wealth of opportunities, training and professional development.’
Nurses in Nothern Ireland are the only ones in the UK without a pay offer for 2023-24 because of an absence of a functioning government in the country. The DoH previously said its £7.3 billion budget allocation was not enough to cover the cost of implementing an offer in line with England.
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