Newcross News Issue 10

Mind the Gap
There’s a deficit of trained healthcare professionals in the UK and the
planned removal of bursaries for student nurses seems likely to make
matters worse. Stephen Pattrick, CEO and co-founder of Newcross, warns
that action is needed to address the widening skills gap in our sector.
When we founded Newcross in 1996,
the primary motivation was to improve
standards in healthcare. Even then, we saw
that it was often difficult for clients to get reliable,
smart and skilled people. We believed that learning
and development were central to the solution, and
so we began to build bespoke training programmes.
Nearly 21 years later, we’ve got a nationwide
network of talented trainers providing courses in our
branches across the UK. In 2016, we delivered 1,347
courses, spanning a wide range of subjects including
epilepsy, end-of-life care, Makaton, autism and the
administration of medication. Indeed, our success
in this field is such that we’re now being asked to
train healthcare staff employed by other companies.
However, while Newcross’s investment in training
continues to increase, with more people, better
systems and educational resources, there’s a bigger,
underlying problem. There simply aren’t enough
qualified nurses to start with. Meanwhile, the demand
continues to grow.
Last summer, I flagged our concerns about the likely
impact of Department of Health reforms in funding
for nursing degrees. Withdrawing bursaries for
student nurses would, I explained, probably result in
fewer people applying for nursing degree courses.
The Department of Health refuted this and reiterated
their official view that applications could actually
increase. The evidence we now have suggests that
they were wrong. And none of us in the healthcare
sector are surprised.
10 | newcrossnews | www.newcrosshealthcare.com