Recruitment and Retention (Hansard, 28 April 1998)

§ Mr. Milburn

We are employing a twin strategy by increasing training levels and investing in initiatives to improve the recruitment, retention and return to practice of trained staff and encourage flexible and family-friendly ways of working. We have included provision for an extra 990 new doctor training places and 1,700 new nurse training places. New student funding arrangements are being introduced which will mean a better deal for all health care professional students. From September 1998 the non-means tested bursary payable to students on nursing and midwifery diploma courses will increase by 2.75 per cent. We have also made available £14.4 million to support recruitment and retention initiatives such as return to practice programmes. A £1.2 million national nursing advertising campaign is currently underway. Early results show that the campaign has been running since the beginning of January and has so far attracted 12,500 responses, which is very encouraging. In addition a resource pack was made available in March to help local managers develop and expand their recruitment and retention programmes, using the momentum built up by the national nursing publicity campaign. Although the pack concentrates on nursing, the key messages cross all professions.