Clinical placements: 500 hours may be cut to free up space for extra recruits
Posted 06 July 2023 - 05:00
Nursing and Midwifery Council is considering making cuts to placement requirements for students to boost the NHS workforce as outlined in new long-term plan
The number of clinical placement hours nursing students need to qualify could be cut by 500 hours in a bid to boost university numbers and get nurses into the workforce quicker.
NMC will consider workforce plan suggestion to reduce required placement hours
The long-awaited NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June, outlines ambitions to increase the number of nurses working in the NHS by 190,000 in the next 15 years, partly by increasing the number of places on nursing degree courses.
It proposes measures including ‘training staff more flexibly’ and cutting the placement hours needed to qualify by more than 20%, from 2,300 to 1,800.
It states: ‘A reduction in placement hours from 2,300 to 1,800 over the course of a nursing degree would reduce pressure on our learners while significantly increasing placement capacity across the NHS to give preregistration students the high-quality learner experience they need to prepare to work in the NHS.’
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) confirmed in January that it is planning to consider changes in reducing the number of clinical hours needed to qualify after changes were made to allow 600 hours of simulated learning at universities in lieu of practice hours.
Supervisors and assessors may be in short supply, warns nurse educator
Since the UK left the European Union, the NMC no longer has to hold itself accountable to regulations on educational standards and could reduce hours if it deemed it safe for patients.
But as the possibility is being explored, Newman University head of adult nursing Kevin Crimmons warned that the process could take years to enforce while a surge in places would also require an increase in supervisors.
‘Most universities find placing all of their current students extremely challenging,’ he said. ‘Over most of the country we have reached saturation capacity in clinical areas. Without reducing hours, the current system would not cope with the numbers mooted in the report.
‘It will take considerable time for the regulator to consult with stakeholders and revise the clinical hours requirement. Given the declining numbers of experienced registered nurses year on year, who will act as the practice supervisors and assessors for a surge in the numbers in placement at any one time?’
NMC to assess the impact on care of reducing the clinical hours requirement
The NMC’s nursing education adviser Julie Dixon confirmed the regulator is planning to evaluate the current state of practical education for nurses.
She added: ‘This will include establishing the ideal mix of practice learning opportunities that will best equip students to join the register and improve people’s health and well-being. We’ll present our findings at a future meeting of our council, where we’ll discuss the impact on people’s care, which is our paramount concern.’
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