England’s former chief nursing officer said that the removal of the bursary for student nurses was a ‘catastrophic decision’ that had a lasting impact on the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking at the UK COVID -19 inquiry, Dame Ruth May highlighted the challenges that nurses faced during the pandemic, including low staffing levels and difficulties accessing protective equipment.
She said that there were 5,000 fewer nurses and 700 fewer midwives at the beginning of the pandemic than there would have been if the nursing bursary was not scrapped. ‘The extra nursing workforce would have made all the difference, and there would have been less burnout - there would have been less psychological impact. Nurses bore the brunt of the pandemic.’
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Dame Ruth was England’s chief nurse from 2019 until July 2024 and had also volunteered for nursing shifts during COVID. The inquiry heard evidence of her experiences, where she recalled that critical-care nurses were responsible for up to six patients each instead of the usual one-to-one ratio. ‘It was not where we wanted to go, and I know there have been consequences because of it.’
While cost-of-living grants were introduced in 2020, student nurses in England are still required to take out a loan to cover tuition fees. Dame Ruth stressed the need to develop domestic workforce supply and ‘bring back the full educational package or write off debt. The domestic supply of future nurses and midwives in this country is key to a future pandemic,’ she said.
Commenting on Dame Ruth’s comments, Professor Nicola Ranger, the Royal College of Nursing general secretary and chief executive warned that the removal of government funding for nursing and shortage of staff has led to ‘millions on waiting lists, with patients being treated in corridors and other inappropriate conditions’.
‘The only way to reverse this is through funding for nursing education, such as a loan forgiveness model that attracts and retains more people into the profession and does not leave nurses deep in debt as they begin their career,’ she said.
The COVID inquiry is currently taking evidence about the impact of the pandemic on the NHS and healthcare systems across all four nations of the UK. More than 50 witnesses are expected to appear before the panel, which runs until the end of November.