Learning disability nursing needs urgent ‘rescue plan’
England’s nursing disability workforce is at risk of ‘imminent collapse’, according to campaigners who have demanded an urgent meeting with ministers to agree a ‘rescue plan’ for the profession.
A coalition of leading charities, campaigners and health organisations, spearheaded by the learning disability charity Mencap, has today written to health and social care secretary Wes Streeting outlining serious concerns for the future of learning disability nursing and the subsequent risk to people with a learning disability.
The joint letter, which is signed by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), pointed to ‘shocking’ figures from the college which suggest a 43% decline in registered learning disability nurse numbers in England since 2009.
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The coalition also highlighted a decline in training courses for learning disability nursing and the predicted end of England’s domestic supply of learning disability nurses by 2028.
To help ‘stop the crisis’, the government has been urged to fund more training opportunities and launch a national recruitment campaign to attract more people into the profession.
In addition, ministers have been asked to place ‘strong emphasis’ on learning disability nursing as part of its upcoming refreshed workforce plan for the NHS.
The previous workforce plan, from 2023, committed to increasing training places for learning disability nursing by 46% by 2028/29.
In reviewing its NHS workforce needs, the government must re-commit to ‘deliverable targets’ and include ‘funding guarantees for universities to maintain programme viability’, the letter said.
The coalition also suggested the need for minimum staffing levels for learning disability nurses per population to ‘ensure safe care and protect lives’.
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It warned that without action there would be ‘an imminent collapse in learning disability nursing that threatens the lives of thousands of people with a learning disability’.
And it called on ministers to agree ‘a rescue plan for the profession and safeguard the health and lives of people with a learning disability’.
Chief executive of Mencap, Jon Sparkes, said: ‘Learning disability nurses save lives. Without urgent intervention, this profession will disappear, leaving people with a learning disability at even greater risk.
‘Health bosses must act now – recommit to the workforce plan, fund training, and stop this crisis before it’s too late.’
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In June, Nursing in Practice revealed NHS England had given 2028 as the point by which England’s domestic supply of learning disability nurses could cease to exist.
The Department of Health and Social Care was contacted for comment.
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