The number of new nursing students has fallen by up to 40 per cent in part of England, threatening NHS rescue plans, analysis shows.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned the number of people studying to become nurses has collapsed in every region between 2020 and 2023.
It said large swathes of the country are being left behind by a failing education system and called for better financial incentives for prospective students.
The data, from the university admissions service UCAS, revealed that in the North East – the hardest-hit region – acceptances on to pre-registration nursing courses have plummeted by 40 per cent.
The number of new nursing students has fallen by up to 40 per cent in part of England (Stock Image)
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned the number of people studying to become nurses has collapsed in every region between 2020 and 2023 (Stock Image)
The RCN is now urging the Government to introduce a loan forgiveness model for students who commit to working in the UK following graduation and funding for living costs (Stock Image)
Yorkshire and Humberside and the South West of England saw drops of 25 per cent each, while the fall in acceptances was 22 per cent in the East of England and 19 per cent in the South East.
As registered nurses typically tend to work in the region where they study, the RCN said they are concerned this could mean fewer medics in the same local areas.
Areas which recorded less of a drop include the West Midlands, with a 14 per cent decrease, and London with a 12 per cent fall.
The analysis comes one week after Labour launched its ten-year plan to fix a ‘broken NHS’.
The RCN is now urging the Government to introduce a loan forgiveness model for students who commit to working in the UK following graduation and funding for living costs.
General secretary Professor Nicola Ranger said: ‘The prospect of huge debt and lack of financial support is putting off the nurses of the future, threatening to leave patients without the highly trained nursing professionals they desperately need.
‘Ministers are right to want to modernise the NHS and shift care into the community, but to do that you must make nursing an attractive career once again.’
At the moment, there are more than 31,000 unfilled nursing posts in England’s NHS.
The health service’s long-term workforce plan aims to grow nursing numbers from 350,000 to 550,000 by 2036/37.
A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘Bringing in the necessary staff will take time, but we are committed to delivering the biggest expansion of NHS staff in history with more midwives, nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals.’
