Francis Report Statement

The School has issued a statement regarding the effect of the Francis Report on nursing courses.

Plans to require healthcare assistant experience for new student nurses

The government's response to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry (Francis Report) was announced by the Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP on Monday 26 March. Part of the response was the announcement to changes in the training for nurses: 'NHS-funded student nurses must spend up to a year working on the frontline as support workers or healthcare assistants as a pre-requisite for receiving funding for their degree'.

The process and time frame for the implementation of this proposal was not identified, but the Secretary of State did say that the government would pilot this scheme. I would therefore wish to reassure current applicants for the next intakes in September 2013 and January 2014 that they will not be affected by this announcement.

Head of Division of Nursing