Other

Letter: More school nurses are needed

1 min read
I trust that Children Now will keep a sharp eye on the Department of Health following the recent chief nursing officer's "swan song" review of the deficiencies that she has been forced to leave behind her in NHS nursing (News, 4-17 August).

In particular, you should monitor her successor's ability to ensure that PCTs honour her recommendation that every cluster or group of primary school and its secondary school should have a minimum of one full-time, whole-year, qualified school nurse to take account of the health needs of the school population.

Having checked with my own local education authority, it would appear that schools just are not getting the support they need from PCTs.

The chief nursing officer rightly recognises the current dire situation where some 2,500 school nurses - and many of them only part-time - have to cover some 25,000 schools.

She would be the first to tell you that the nurse-to-pupil ratio hasn't a chance of delivering the healthy schools policy that her department tells us the UK enjoys.

Register Now to Continue Reading

Thank you for visiting Children & Young People Now and making use of our archive of more than 60,000 expert features, topics hubs, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's Included

  • Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month

  • Email newsletter providing advice and guidance across the sector

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here


More like this

Hertfordshire Youth Workers

“Opportunities in districts teams and countywide”

Administration Apprentice

SE1 7JY, London (Greater)