The UK’s leading nursing union is demanding the Government provides a support package to help tackle “rapidly deteriorating” recruitment numbers.
With the upcoming March Budget announcement merely a few weeks away now, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has penned a hard-hitting letter to Health Secretary Victoria Atkins calling for “urgent action” to address what it claims has been a significantly “large fall” in applicants to nursing degree courses in England.
The RCN says the Government “must” introduce an emergency package of measures to support nurse recruitment in the next Budget on 6 March.
The union‘s calls comes after new official figures from UCAS were released yesterday (15 February), which show a further sharp drop in applicants to nursing courses for the next academic year, all despite the Government’s Long Term Workforce Plan for the NHS.
New UCAS data shows a 26% collapse in the number of applicants to study nursing in England in just two years, a deeply concerning trend.
We've written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to demand immediate action, read more ⬇️ https://t.co/6b62QO1aPz
The UCAS figures revealed there were just 24,680 nursing applicants to education providers in England this year, compared to 27,370 applicants in 2023, and 33,410 in 2022 – which represents a 10% fall in the last year, and a 26% fall in the last two years, according to the RCN.
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Because of these declining application numbers, the Union is now warning that it leaves the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan “in danger of falling off course”.
It also poses “a direct threat to the sustainability of the NHS and patient safety”, the RCN claims.
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The RCN says the fall in recruitment is underlined by a collapse in the number of mature students from the UK applying for nursing degrees offered by education providers in England, with this number having fallen by 11% in just one year, and has continued to trend downwards by falling from 18,980 in 2021, to 11,190 in 2024.
The RCN is demanding Government support to tackle ‘rapidly deteriorating’ recruitment numbers / Credit: RCN
“Historically, many have chosen nursing as a second career,” the RCN explained in its letter to the Government urging support measures.
RCN’s General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said she is “deeply concerned” about the “rapidly deteriorating state of nurse recruitment” in her letter to the Health Secretary this week, and added that a failure to address these “critical issues” will eventually leave the health care system “dangerously understaffed” and “unable to meet the growing demands of patients”.
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Ms Cullen continued in her letter: “These latest figures expose a widening gap between the aspirations of the plan and the level of political effort required to make them a reality.
A 10% drop in nursing degree applications in England threatens patient safety, and risks making the NHS workforce plan unattainable.
“This needs immediate intervention and corrective action to protect patients now and in the future.
“A decline in applicants risks causing a cascading effect, with fewer students accepted onto nursing courses leading to diminished course cohorts and eventually lower numbers graduating and becoming registered nurses, so the UK Government must recognise the severity of this emergency.
“Immediate action must be taken to prevent further decline in nursing recruitment.
“We believe the current situation poses a direct threat to the sustainability of the NHS and patient safety, considering the existing 10.3% vacancy rate in nursing positions within the NHS in England.”
Featured Image – gov.uk
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‘Danger to life’ amber wind warning issued for Greater Manchester as Storm Éowyn arrives
Emily Sergeant
Storm Éowyn is expected to bring very strong winds and widespread disruption to Greater Manchester later this week.
In case you hadn’t heard, the Met Office named Storm Éowyn yesterday, and confirmed that it will begin to influence the UK’s weather from early on Friday – with strengthening winds initially expected in the south west first, accompanying heavy rainfall, before it quickly spreads to the north and the rest of the UK as the morning progresses.
An amber warning for wind has been issued for large parts of the UK, including the majority of Greater Manchester, for most of the day on Friday.
#StormÉowyn has been named and is forecast to bring strong winds to much of the UK on Friday and into Saturday.
Coming into effect from 6am this Friday (24 January), the weather warning his means that power cuts are likely to occur, transport services will be affected with delays and cancellations, and there is a chance that buildings could be damaged.
Worse than that though, there’s even a ‘danger to life’ too, with potential injuries occurring from flying debris.
Speaking ahead of Storm Éowyn’s arrival in a couple of days time, Mike Silverstone, who is the Deputy Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “Storm Éowyn will bring a period of very unsettled, potentially disruptive, weather to the UK through Friday and into Saturday.
Warnings for strong winds, heavy rain and snow are in place across many parts of the UK during Thursday, Friday and into the weekend ⚠️
“The strongest gusts are likely to be felt across parts of Northern Ireland, northern England, northwestern Wales and western Scotland, where exposed sites could get gusts in excess of 80mph, which has the potential to cause impacts for those in these areas.
“There will also be some heavy rain, bringing some unpleasant conditions to end the week.”
The initial warning for Storm Éowyn has been issued several days in advance, so it’s important to stay up to date with the forecast on the Met Office website here in the coming days.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
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The 2025/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby season has been delayed
Danny Jones
The next Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) season has been officially delayed by nearly three weeks.
Announced on Tuesday, 21 January, the decision has been taken in an effort to help promote the Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC), the proximity of which is rather close to the national union championship competition.
With sporting bodies also trying to nurture a growing interest in female rugby, the start of the next PWR season will be pushed back not only to give players more time to rest but in an effort to drive a larger audience to the WRWC as well, the final of which is being played here in England.
The hope is that it will also better the Red Roses’ chances of winning the international tournament in turn – fingers firmly crossed.
Get excited 🤩
The PWR 2025-26 Season will officially kick off on Saturday 25th October PLUS the PWR Cup will return 🙌
The conclusion of the international tournament is taking place at Twickenham Stadium in London on 27 September, just days before the 2025/26 Premiership season was due to start.
Local side Sale Sharks are sadly at the bottom of the table this current campaign, which kicked off on 5 October 2024 and ends this March, but with eyes already on the WRWC the focus for lots of players in the division will no doubt already be shifting.
Not only is the domestic women’s rugby season being delayed by nearly three whole weeks – meaning the first games won’t happen until 25 October – but this comes after the current schedule of fixtures was also reduced with player recovery in mind ahead of the World Cup.
Speaking to BBC Sport, the PWR’s operations manager, Amy Walmsley, said: “The Rugby World Cup is a generational moment for women’s rugby and will create a huge opportunity for both PWR and our clubs to grow and celebrate with their fans.
“The optimum time between the Rugby World Cup Final and our first league match will ensure we capitalise on what we already know will be the biggest and best World Cup ever, while also ensuring player welfare with adequate rest across the season.”
The stats back it up too as 2024 saw numerous milestones for the women’s game; in addition to record crowds at the Olympics, last year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations was the most viewed on record with 8.1 million fans tuning in, not to mention an increased interest among 18-24-year-olds.
You can find the run-down of the Sale Sharks Women fixtures below:
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝘂𝗻 𝗜𝗻
All of our fixtures for the 24/25 season are locked in. Let's bring that Northern roar to every game #SharksFamily 🦈
As for the final of the Premiership Women’s Rugby, the date has been reverted to its usual window in June, which should also fit within what congestion remains.
Nevertheless, with the Women’s Six Nations in late April and England – who have won all but one of their last 51 games – set to begin their World Cup on 22 August, the margins are still going to be somewhat fine if they are to head into the tournament in the best shape possible.
With the tickets selling extremely well, the expectation is that the Rugby World Cup final break is set to break the world record for the best-attended women’s rugby fixture in history.
In the meantime, Greater Manchester is gearing up for the men’s action as the Six Nations gets underway at the end of this month and the city is boasting the perfect place to watch it.
Emily Sergeant -
16th February 2024 
