People interested in a career in nursing but who are not in a financial position to go to university full-time can benefit from a unique opportunity offered by NHS Lothian.

Around 20 people will be offered a permanent contract with NHS Lothian as a health care support worker, as they undertake a BSc (Hons) Nursing: Mental Health.

Delivered jointly by the health board and the Open University (OU), 2023 will be the second time the innovative four-year mental health traineeship programme has been offered in Lothian.

Posts will be available across the full range of mental health services provided by NHS Lothian – including older people, dementia care and child and adolescent services.

Trainees will be recruited initially to a permanent Band 3 Healthcare Support Worker role – attracting a salary of up to £27,486 a year – and will be required to complete two preparatory modules with the Open University within the first 16 months.

They can then join the OU programme at year two of nurse training.

This year will also see the very first trainees embark on an adult nursing traineeship, after recently getting the go-head from the Scottish government.

A total of 25 places on the adult programme will soon be advertised and the board says it is expecting ‘a good level of interest’.

Trainees of this new programme will qualify after the four years with a Registered Adult Nurse qualification.

 A spokesperson from NHS Lothian told healthandcare.scot:

“Throughout the programme, the trainee is employed by the Board in a band 3 role and whilst some of their clinical commitment will be “supernumerary” to give them the student status and the learning opportunities, they are essentially “earning whilst learning”.”

Entry requirements of both programmes are a Standard Grade or National 5 equivalent qualification in both English and Maths.

Recruiters say they will be looking for people who have values of care, compassion, dignity, respect, honesty and teamwork to take part in the opportunity.

Traditional routes into nursing in Scotland usually involve undertaking a three-year degree at one of the country’s 11 programmes approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

These courses normally require at least three SQA Higher qualifications to gain entry.

Student nurses at a Scottish university can access, if eligible, a Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary of £10,000 in each of the first three years of study.

The NHS traineeship programme offers a full-time employment contract where participants will earn at least £25,468 as they study for their degree.

NHS Lothian say around 10 applications for every post (210 in total) were received this year for the mental health programme.

‘The Nursing Workforce in Scotland’ report, published by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland, shows 8% fewer applicants were accepted onto undergraduate nursing courses at Scottish universities in 2022 compared to 2021. 

Nearly 600 fewer nursing students started university in autumn 2022 than the Scottish government’s recommended intake target of 4,536.

Meanwhile, there are more than 4,000 registered nursing vacancies in NHS Scotland and 64% of care homes for older people report vacancies.

Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland Director, said last month's report shows that a Ministerial Taskforce and an Agenda for Change review – planning for which has now begun – must not be "kicked into the long grass":

“Our nursing staff need the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care and Scottish government to be focused fully on the task in hand. It’s only a year until the Safe Staffing Act comes into force and we still have near-record nursing vacancies.

“The clock is ticking for the Scottish government to find effective solutions to the nursing workforce crisis. The RCN and its members are ready and willing to play our part and we will be working hard to hold the Scottish government to account in the coming months.” 

Scotland’s Health Secretary Michael Matheson says the Scottish government is taking forward work to develop other ‘earn as you learn’ routes to widen access into nursing.

Read more: Nurses repeat staffing fears as strike looms; RCN: treating patients in corridor is 'scandalous'; Safe staffing timetable announced

 

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