New strategy to ‘embed’ social care placements in nursing degrees

A new government-funded strategy aims to ‘embed’ adult social care placements in nursing degrees and encourage more nursing students to work in the sector.

The strategy has been developed by Skills for Care and the Council of Deans, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Published this week, the plan sets out to deliver more placement opportunities in social care settings and to create stronger connections between students, universities, colleges, care providers, employers and the wider social care workforce. Social care placements are currently not routinely offered to students.

While not expecting all students to later pursue a career in social care, the plan hopes to improve understanding of the sector and provide skills and experiences which can be applied across a range of health and care settings. 

The government suggested its new strategy will ‘embed adult social care placements into nursing degrees, giving students first-hand experience of working with services that help prevent unnecessary hospital admissions’.

Placement opportunities could include residential care, supported living or home care, ‘so that student nurses learn more about the prevention of ill health through early intervention’, it added.

And the strategy recommended: ‘Universities and colleges should, through collaboration with providers, consider the most appropriate points in their programmes where social care practice placement experience would provide the greatest benefit to nursing students and clearly signpost relevant learning outcomes.

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‘Consideration of adult social care should be broad but also emphasised in content on the context of care, community nursing, prevention and in policy direction.’

Speaking at the plan’s launch yesterday, minister for care Stephen Kinnock, described the strategy as a ‘statement of intent’ for the future of nursing in England.

‘The plan marks a real turning point in how we prepare our future workforce. It’s a signal that adult social care nursing is not a niche pursuit, not a plan B, and certainly not a second-best career,’ Mr Kinnock said.

‘The profession hasn’t always been visible, and for too long, outdated perceptions and limited exposure during training have made it harder for students to see what’s possible. This new strategy aims to change all of that,’ he added.

Mr Kinnock has been working alongside the chief nurse for adult social care, Professor Deborah Sturdy, to develop the strategy.

Also speaking at the event yesterday, Professor Sturdy said student nurse training needs to change to deliver ‘our workforce of the future’.

‘I really commend this strategy, and hope that people will come on board and make it meaningful, not only to the learning experience, but I think for, as the minister rightly says, our future workforce as well,’ she added.

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) head of independent health and social care, Claire Sutton, said the plan must be understood in the context of ‘falling registered nurse numbers in social care’.

‘Beyond this strategy, ministers need to reveal a plan to boost numbers choosing to study nursing in the first place,’ Ms Sutton said.

‘Both social care and the NHS need the government to overhaul nurse education and introduce new financial incentives, including loan forgiveness, to boost student nurse numbers.’

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At RCN Congress in May, nurses from various settings warned that investment into social care was needed to ease the corridor crisis, bring more nurses into the sector and prevent system-wide failure.

The plan comes as part of the government’s push for more care to be delivered outside of hospital settings, a goal that is central to the recently launched 10-year health plan which launched a neighbourhood health service and mooted nurse-led neighbourhood health centres.

The move from hospital care is central to Labour’s ‘three shifts’, from hospital to community, sickness to prevention and analogue to digital.

Oonagh Smyth, chief executive officer at Skills for Care, said the plan will allow students to develop the ‘skill and expertise’ to deliver care in people’s homes and across communities.

‘This strategy gives much needed recognition of the complexity, professional autonomy and leadership of nursing roles in social care,’ she said.

Chief executive of the Council of Deans of Health, Ed Hughes, added that the plan will also be a learning opportunity for students who choose not to work in social care.

‘Student placements in social care settings provide opportunities for students to experience a broader range of care environments to help their development as healthcare professionals and learn different skills,’ Mr Hughes said.

Paul Rees, Nursing and Midwifery Council chief executive and registrar, said learning in social care gives students ‘valuable insight’ into the difference nurses make in this area.

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‘We look forward to working with our partners to support the implementation of the strategy. Together, we can ensure future nursing professionals are fully equipped to deliver safe, effective, person-centred care, wherever it’s needed,’ he added. 

This year Nursing in Practice has been running a series of interviews with the co-chairs of the Social Care Nursing Advisory Councils (SCNACs), highlighting the priorities of each SCNAC across every region in England. 

In January, the government launched an independent commission to ‘rebuild’ adult social care, but long-term social care reform is not expected before 2028.