§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the measures his Department has taken to provide training for nurses to enable them to 139W meet the new requirements, both in hospitals and in community care, of his policy of returning patients to the community.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeSince July 1983 the statutory responsibility for nurse education has rested with the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting and, in England, with the English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting.
To meet the changing emphasis from hospital to community orientated care, in 1977 a statement of educational policy was issued which required tutors responsible for basic education and training to take account in their training programmes of the trend towards the increasing provision of care in the community. The syllabus for the training of district nurses was therefore reviewed in 1981 to take account of these requirements.
In the fields of mental illness and mental handicap new training syllabi were issued in 1982. Following the report of the committee on mental handicap nursing and care, Ministers invited the General Nursing Council and the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work to set up a joint working group to look at ways of co-operating in qualifying and in-service training for a community-based model of care. The group's report is now being considered by the English Mational Board and the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work.
In addition, a number of post-basic courses are now available under the auspices of the English National Board. These include courses on rehabilitation and community care for both general and psychiatric nurses.
In-service and on going post basic training is the responsibility of individual health authorities, but we have made extra money available for this year and the past two years to inner city health authorities for the training of additional health visitors and district nurses.