The government has announced a significant shift in NHS recruitment, enabling trusts to hire newly qualified nurses and midwives based on projected need, rather than waiting for vacancies to arise.
This “graduate guarantee” aims to streamline the process and ensure every new nurse and midwife in England can secure a position.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) confirmed that the change will allow NHS providers to recruit proactively, moving away from a system reliant on current headcounts.
This strategic adjustment is designed to remove existing barriers for trusts, opening up thousands of roles for new graduates and ensuring the health service has the necessary staffing levels to deliver optimal patient care across the country.
As part of the comprehensive package, newly qualified students will gain access to a dedicated online hub offering vital information and guidance for their applications.
Furthermore, an additional £8m has been allocated to temporarily convert vacant maternity support worker posts into band 5 midwifery positions, bolstering frontline services.
The package comes following talks between the government, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
Record numbers decided to study nursing during the Covid pandemic, and fewer nurses and midwives are leaving the profession, meaning in some areas there are up to three times as many graduates as vacancies.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said: “It is absurd that we are training thousands of nurses and midwives every year, only to leave them without a job before their career has started.
“No one who dedicates themselves to a nursing or midwifery career should be left in limbo, when their skills are so urgently needed in the effort to rebuild our NHS.
“I am sending a clear message to every newly qualified nurse and midwife: we’re here to support you from day one so you can provide the best care for patients and cut waiting lists.”
The DHSC says it hopes the measures will spread healthcare professionals across a wide variety of sectors.
It cites that there are three times as many graduates as there are vacancies in some parts of the country, creating barriers for newly qualified healthcare professionals seeking jobs.
The government claims the reforms will provide greater certainty and access to a wide and diverse range of roles, addressing the issue of bottlenecks.
Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the RCN, said the success of the scheme will be judged on whether more students are able to fill vacant positions in the NHS.
She said: “Our student members have led the way in calling for ministers and healthcare leaders to provide certainty and clarity on jobs.
“Today’s announcement is welcome news that should provide hope to students as they come towards the end of their education and training.
“When the health service urgently needs nursing staff, it was absurd to leave people in limbo.
“The test of this will be if students can find jobs, vacant posts are filled, and patients receive the care they deserve.”
RCM chief executive Gill Walton said: “We’re pleased that the government has listened to the voices of student midwives who are desperate to start their career, only to find those opportunities blocked.
“I know today’s announcement will come as a relief to so many of the RCM’s student midwife members.
“These are people, mainly women, who have worked incredibly hard to complete their degree and are trained and ready to support our current midwifery workforce at a time when so many maternity services are under pressure.
“Ensuring we have the right midwifery staff, in the right places, at the right time with the right education and training has never been so crucial as services are striving to improve safety.”
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