RCN flags dangers of huge drop in school nurse numbers
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned that children are being put at risk by cuts to school nurse positions.
According to new data published by the NHS this week (https://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB30042), more than 550 school nurses have been lost to the profession since 2010, almost a fifth of the total NHS workforce in England.
The fall has gathered pace in recent months, with more than a hundred posts lost so far this year.
The data comes from the NHS's HR and payroll system and covers nurses in both primary and secondary schools.
The RCN has called on the Government to provide local authorities with the funds needed for fully-staffed school nursing services to allow every child to attend school safely.
Despite 2014 guidance from the Department for Education stating that all children with health conditions should be supported to go to school, the number of school nurses has fallen from 2,987 to just 2,433 full time NHS posts in England.
The RCN has warned the loss leaves teachers without vital training and pupils without necessary support, and says that if services continue to deteriorate, pupils with health conditions may be unable to attend mainstream school.
Fiona Smith, RCN Professional Lead for Children and Young People’s Nursing, said, ‘It would be completely unjust if a child couldn’t participate in school life because of their health condition. Every child has the right to an education and it is the Government’s responsibility to make that happen.
‘With school nurse numbers at their lowest in years, it soon won’t be possible to provide the care these children need within the school environment. Cuts to public health budgets are leaving whole communities without the care they need and this is limiting the opportunities of thousands of children.
‘It is time the Government wakes up and realises the hugely detrimental impact these cuts are having to our children and our society. School nursing is a critical service and it needs to be treated as such.’
The Department of Health said the statistics do not provide a full picture as they only include school nurses employed by the NHS and not by those employed directly by non-NHS providers, including local authorities.
A spokesperson added, ‘School nurses play an important role in supporting the health and wellbeing of young people.
‘Local authorities are best placed to make choices about services for their community which is why decisions about public health funding sit with them. To help, we are investing more than £16 billion in local government public health services over the current spending period, and will continue to support schools in their duty to make arrangements for pupils with medical needs.’
