Responding to a fall in the number of people accepted onto nursing courses in England, Executive Director for RCN England, Patricia Marquis, said:

“Nursing is a fantastic career and we’re delighted for the thousands who will soon begin their journey. But the truth is the country needs far more nurses than are being accepted, with the numbers joining our profession flatlining for the past four years. This is especially disappointing at a time of unprecedented demand for services and when almost two in three nursing staff say staffing is below what’s needed.

“What today’s figures obscure is a disjointed health and education system which pushes students into poverty during study, debt on graduation and with many then struggling to secure an entry level nursing job in the NHS. Meanwhile, courses themselves are threatened with closure and nurse lecturers faced with redundancy, due to the crisis in university funding.

“That’s why we need to reform this broken system of nurse education, ensuring a stable and growing supply of nursing staff. That means making nursing a more attractive proposition with a new deal for students providing them with proper financial support. We also need to see universities resourced to deliver high quality nursing programmes. Transforming care requires transforming nurse education.”