The intake of nursing students has falled by a quarter, but more than half of nurses will near retirement within ten years, a report said DAVID CHESKIN/PANurses’ leaders have warned that a “perfect storm” caused by a boom and bust approach to staffing is putting care for NHS patients at risk. The Royal College of Nursing Scotland is calling on the government to take immediate action to address recruitment shortages in a report that says the healthcare system is in crisis. The report says that more than half of the nursing and midwifery staff working in the NHS in Scotland will near retirement in the next ten years yet the intake of student nurses was cut by a quarter between 2006 and 2013. Unheeded warnings: health…

Source: The Times October 20, 2016 23:03 UTC