Could volunteers be drafted in to plug NHS staffing gap?
Posted 11 May 2023 - 13:54
House of Lords debate suggests that staff shortage could be eased by volunteers from bodies such as the British Red Cross
The government could consider drafting in volunteers from the British Red Cross to mitigate the NHS nursing shortage.
During a debate in the House of Lords on 10 May, former Red Cross nurse Baroness Rawlings asked Lord Markham: ‘Many lives are at risk from the shortage of nurses, frequently through lack of retention. Following the spirit wisely suggested by our King of the importance of supporting volunteering, will His Majesty’s government consider volunteer Red Cross and St John’s nurses to help ease the situation?’
Government wants to make it ‘as easy as possible’ to help out
Lord Markham, who was appointed parliamentary under-secretary for the Department of Health and Social Care in September, said he would be open to the idea of deploying volunteers in the NHS.
He replied: ‘Absolutely. I think the message very much is that we want to make it as easy and productive as possible for people to help out and recruit.’
Charity already supports some NHS services
Traditionally, the British Red Cross is a charity that responds to domestic and international humanitarian crises, emergencies and conflicts, and has a network of around 32,000 volunteers in the UK.
The organisation confirmed that it no longer has its own UK nursing service, but it already supports first aid, transport and emergency responses in the NHS, as well as some home care services in local regions, including assisting with hospital discharge of vulnerable patients.
The suggestion of drafting in volunteers echoes an NHS England scheme that last year called up 17,000 volunteer ‘reservists’ to help tackle the waiting list backlog due to COVID-19.
At the time, unions including the RCN warned that the scheme could mask critical workforce shortages.
Pay nurses fairly, says Lord Windermere
Baroness Rawlings’ proposal followed a question by Lord Windermere on how the government was tackling the shortage of 44,000 nurses in the NHS workforce.
He said the health service is in a ‘desperate’ state, adding that ‘our NHS depends entirely upon having sufficient nurses’.
‘The members of the RCN recognise that the latest government pay offer fails to address the critical problem of recruitment and retention. When will government face up to these facts and make nurses a pay offer which offers them a long-term future in the NHS?’
Lord highlights nurse training and recruitment
While welcoming the idea of drafting in volunteers, Lord Markham said there were 43,000 more nurses in the NHS than in 2019, and that the government was actively working to train more nurses domestically and recruit internationally.
A spokesperson for the British Red Cross told Nursing Standard that it already supports NHS services at 100 hospitals and 25 emergency departments, as well as providing community based help, but said ‘these services complement but do not replace NHS services and staff’.
They added: ‘These services help take the pressure off the NHS and enable people to recover after a hospital stay, or to stay well at home after an injury or illness. Since the NHS was founded, the British Red Cross has worked in partnership to support hardworking professionals in the NHS and social care.’
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