Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address any shortage of nurses in the North East of England; and whether they have considered the implications of the possible failure to renew the contract currently held by Northumbria University for nurse and other related training.
Answered on
5 January 2015
Health Education North East (HENE) is working closely with the nurse leaders across the region to develop a Nursing Recruitment and Retention Strategy to address the shortage of nurses. The development of the strategy was agreed by HENE’s governing body at its meeting in September 2014.
HENE has a successful history of working with two high quality providers of nursing education, Northumbria and Teesside Universities, and there is no current intention to terminate either of these annual nursing contracts. Additionally, HENE has begun working with the Open University (OU) to develop future flexible routes into nursing by commissioning extra adult nurse places through the OU programme.
Health Education England has reached agreement with Universities UK and the Council of Deans on contracts with universities, including Northumbria, for the provision of nurse and other related training.