The British government has announced a £3.4-billion program to train 8000 more nurses, midwives and other health professionals, to encourage those who have left the field to return, and to promote careers in the National Health Service (NHS).
The program includes an advertising campaign with the slogan “Join the team and make a difference.” One commercial features a smiling young woman who had recovered from serious craniofacial injuries incurred in an accident. She lists the different NHS personnel who “helped put a smile back on Jenny's face.” The NHS has undertaken similar campaigns in the past, but the new funding represents a 12% increase over previous budgets. Health minister John Hutton said that annual funding for new NHS training would increase to £4.1 billion by 2005.
The British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing welcomed the announcement but warned that pay and working conditions have to improve if the NHS hopes to retain more staff. The college recently released a report stating that there are now more than 42 000 foreign nurses registered in the UK — over twice as many as in 1999. The report, Here to Stay, examined one NHS trust in London where nurses from 68 countries (including Canada) are now employed.
The report said that overseas recruitment of nurses is no longer viewed as a stop-gap measure by the NHS.
“It is no exaggeration to state that some health care organizations, particularly in the independent sector, would cease to function without their international nurses,” the report said. “Many more, including NHS trusts, could not function effectively without their international recruits.” — Mary Helen Spooner, West Sussex, UK