Medical recruiters have given a mixed response to a government proposal that by 2013 all new nurses recruited by the NHS will have to have a degree.

New courses lasting up to four years will replace the two or three year nursing diploma courses, which are currently the minimum entry level required for those joining the NHS.

Ann Keen (Health Minister) said that requiring nurses to have a degree “would provide new nurses with the decision-making skills they need to make high-level judgements in the transformed NHS”.

Kate Bleasdale,
 executive vice chairman of Healthcare Locums (HCL), told Recruiter: “As a former nurse with a Masters degree, I think this is excellent news as it’s about time that all nurses had the opportunity to develop their clinical and management skills. It can only lead to better patient care”.

However, as we have seen in the social care sector, moving from a diploma to a degree course can deter some school leavers from entering the profession and also means that it takes longer for new entrants to qualify and start work – at a time when the nursing workforce is ageing and struggling to meet the demands of the growing population. We have always said that the only solution to this crisis is a truly global approach, sourcing qualified nurses from countries where there is a surplus and helping them find jobs in countries where there is a lack of healthcare professionals.

Zack Feather, Managing Director of A & E Agency, has said that he welcomed the government’s announcement. “At the moment anybody and everybody can get a job as a nurse, but this will set the standard a lot higher.  It is also good news for the top end nursing agencies as it allows them to add more value by supplying higher quality staff into the NHS.”