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Nursing programmes: funding announced for thousands of extra clinical placements

Health Education England said expansion will be tailored to areas of most need
Nursing students on a ward

Health Education England said expansion will be tailored to areas of most need


Picture: iStock

An extra 7,000 nursing and midwifery clinical placements are to be funded in the coming academic year in England.


HEE chief nurse Mark Radford

Health Education England (HEE) will spend £8.2 million on expanding placements capacity, in response to a surge in demand.

Demand for placements ‘far greater than imagined’

HEE chief nurse Mark Radford, explained: ‘The response we received from organisations expressing their desire to provide placements for more students was far greater than we had imagined so I am pleased further funds have been found.’

‘These additional placements will expand the pipeline of our future workforce. We will be working directly with universities, the NHS and other system providers to ensure the placements are in those areas of most need across the country.’


Council of Deans of Health
executive director Katerina Kolyva

Disruption to nursing students’ learning 

Health educators welcomed the announcement, given the disruption to pre-registration learning caused by COVID-19.

Katerina Kolyva, executive director of the Council of Deans of Health, said: ‘It is fantastic news. It will help universities confidently recruit students on to courses and provide placement opportunities to existing students, some of whom need to catch up on the clinical component of their studies after courses were disrupted earlier this year.

‘The council is working with government and arm’s-length bodies in England to expand healthcare education capacity. Placements are one important part of the solution. We look forward to seeing how this funding is used to support innovation, infrastructure and technology.’


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