‘THIS report highlights yet another case of cuts without thought for the impact on staff and patients,’ said Stephanie Aiken, RCN Deputy Director of Nursing yesterday.
She was responding to the publication of ‘A false economy: Cuts to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Funding for Nursing, Midwifery and the Allied Health Professions (AHPs) in England’ by the Council of Deans of Health.
Aiken said: ‘Patient care is transforming at a rapid pace, and without continuing training and education, it’s hard to see how nursing staff can be expected to keep up with these changes. Funding for training and development has been cut almost by half, yet the strategy for the health service and the care it delivers has not adapted to reflect this loss.
‘If the government wants to achieve the goal of safe and up-to-date care, it needs to provide the funding for training, development and education – it’s that simple. If the two remain disconnected, the health service cannot deliver to current and future needs.
‘This requires investment; for example, district nurse caseload holders should have a specialist practitioner qualification to enable them to lead and implement high quality care. The progress and innovation we’ve seen in health care has been astounding, but it will be wasted if nursing staff cannot access specialist education to put this into practice. Higher education and CPD are both paramount if the government wants to achieve the health service it is aiming for.’
The report calls for an urgent review of cuts to CPD funding for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. Central funding for ongoing education and training of the workforce has been halved in 2016/17 while funding for ongoing medical education has been protected.
Professor Dame Jessica Corner, Chair of the Council of Deans of Health, said: ‘We urgently need more joined-up thinking about funding for education and training for these professions. There is a clear gap between the government’s strategies to transform services by deploying nurses, midwives and AHPs in new roles and these short-sighted cuts. These cuts are difficult for universities but will have a far greater impact on the NHS and its ability to deliver its own objectives.’
