|
In response to SNIP (2001), £1.5 million was made available
to create an extra 250 student nurse places across Higher
Educational Institutions for the 2002-03 academic year. To
help universities and Trusts cope with the overall number
of student nurse places required, it was agreed to phase the
increase over a two-year period.
The new Special Health Board established from 1 April 2002
will work with the Scottish Executive in monitoring quality
and appropriateness of clinical placements; relevance of the
curriculum to modern health care; fitness for purpose of newly
qualified cohorts; new preceptorship and mentoring arrangements
for newly qualified nurses and midwives.
Student Nursing Intake Planning (SNIP) 2003
As part of the large increase in the recommended intake,
a number of alternative paths to nurse training have been
approved. Concerns on the capacity to deal with the number
of clinical placements have also influenced the development
of alternative training routes. The additional 525 places
can be broken down as follows:
- 'Traditional' students places, i.e. three-year Higher
Education Institution (HEIs) based pre-registration students,
have been allocated across the seven contracted universities.
- 360 Healthcare students as developed by Facing the Future
sub-group chaired by Rosslyn Crockett, have been funded
and NHS employers are currently recruiting to these places.
The majority of the HNCs began in autumn 2003, although
some sought permission to postpone until February 2004.
The majority are beginning in academic year 2003/4, in order
to have a chance of completing the pre-registration programme
in 2006/7. A small proportion will be part-time taking four
years to complete the pre-registration training.
- 36 Open University students commenced in February 2004
in remote and rural areas in Dumfries, Ayrshire and the
Western Isles. The Open University is working with Paisley
University in each of these areas. This is a four-year work-based
part-time programme, and is adapted and approved by NES
for the NMC for Scotland.
To support clinical placements for these additional places,
100 Practice Educator post have been established. These are
funded on a joint bases from the Executive, NES Higher Education
Institutions as well as NHS Employers. These posts have begun
to come on stream since February 2004.
The SNIP process has been reviewed with a move to develop
this into a workforce plan for the nursing and midwifery workforce.
This will allow for a scoping and projection on the wider
workforce that will help inform the development of a national
workforce plan for NHSSCotland.
Student Nursing Intake Planning (SNIP) 2004
A comprehensive review of the Student Nurse Intake Planning
process has been completed. This highlighted the benefits
gained from the process to date, however it also flagged areas/gaps
where improvements could be made. It recognised the need to
capture data and intelligence on the wider nursing and midwifery
workforce to allow for the development of a comprehensive
nursing and midwifery workforce plan. This will be developed
on an iterative basis commencing in 2004.
| 
