New recruiting drive for more nurses – 3 March archive, 1970

The Government is today launching a major recruiting drive for nurses, to combat what is now officially recognised as a grave national shortage.

At the same time, an independent committee is being set up to look at the future role and training of the nurse, so that her scarce skills can be used to best advantage.

Mr Crossman’s announcement of these plans in the Commons yesterday came a fortnight after nurses had won pay increases of up to 20 per cent but, as he said, wages are not the only problem.

He has already tackled regional hospital boards on two more of the outstanding grievances: they are being asked to ensure that their senior nursing staff have a clear part in management, and told that it is essential for nurses to be relieved of the domestic chores which now take up so much of their time.

Boards have also been firmly told that although there is to be no extra money, they must not use lack of funds as an excuse for not recruiting. Cutting down on nursing staff, Mr Crossman said earlier yesterday, was not an economy that the National Health Service could afford.

The recruiting campaign, whatever Mr Crossman’s plans for improving the nurses’ conditions, still relies heavily on the traditional vocational pull: “You’re someone special when you’re a nurse,” the advertisements will say, but at least they can add: “And now you’ll be better off too!”

The campaign will cost £250,000 over the next year and the Department is not sure what it is aiming at. It has set no target for its recruitment because it actually has no figures on the gap between need and the present situation and therefore assumes that recruitment can be unlimited.

The last time the Department spent a lot of money on this sort of programme, it had something like 200,000 inquiries but has no idea how many of these turned into signed contracts. This campaign will at least have a follow-up element.

The shortage of nurses at least is incontestable in many parts of the country. Even London teaching hospitals now have to rely heavily on agencies to get staff, and intake has been dropping. The national wastage from training schemes is around 35 per cent of all who start a course.

Cheap labour
The chaos of the present system of treating young nurses as an uneasy cross between student, apprentice, and cheap labour is one of the problems that the new committee will be looking at.

It will be chaired by Professor Asa Briggs, Vice-Chancellor of Sussex University and a historian. He said yesterday that he hoped the inquiry would take about 18 months, and he was anxious to tap current feelings among nurses rather than rely on published reports.

He wants to look at the education of nurses in relation to the whole development of educational patterns, as well as trying to rationalise manpower for a future where hospital and community work will be much more closely linked.

New recruiting drive for more nurses – 3 March archive, 1970