The prime minister has to make sure that he stands by the profession that managed to save his life when he was forced to go to the hospital with Covid-19. They are also asking him to consider his proposal of a 1% pay rise for any nurses. Some believe that this is just not enough and that the work that they have put in deserves more recognition. The RCN have appealed to him to try and make sure that he is aware of how much help and support nurses have given him over time. If you work in a nurse agency or if you work as part of a nursing recruitment agency, you will know how important it is to make sure that things keep on running smoothly for the NHS. If things do not run smoothly then lives will be lost, and this will really cause people to experience a lower standard of healthcare overall.

Earlier this month, a proposal for a 1% pay rise was met with a lot of backlash from the supporting unions. They branded the pay rise as nothing short of an insult and they believed that the evidence that was in review was not really taking into consideration every aspect of what the NHS does. It is the government that are going to be making the final decision. Dame Donna is going to state in the speech that she is due to make, that the government are aware of how misjudged the current decision is. They know that offering a 1% pay rise is nothing short of shocking yet they are not doing anything about it. The NHS nurses stood guard by his bedside to ensure that he was not neglected during his time in hospital, and it’s safe to say that more needs to be done to ensure that he gives recognition where it is due.

There are two weeks to go before the new financial year starts and the government have revealed that they are going to be launching a funding settlement of around £3.32 billion. This is around a £45 million rise when compared to the year before. At the end of the day, visiting has been cut to the bone when you look at the years that have followed public health grants. The grant is usually paid to councils and this is going to be ringfenced. The aim is to try and target public health services and this would include sexual health nursing as well as school nursing. Critics have stated that the last-minute nature that comes with the announcement doesn’t give people much time to plan ahead and it would seem that the 1% rise has largely been attacked. People are saying that it is inefficient when you look at the amount of pressure that has been put on healthcare as the result of the pandemic. If you work as part of a nurse agency or if you are part of a nursing recruitment agency, then you will know what a blow this is.

The Health Foundation are actually an independent charity and they have said that the allocation for the coming years are actually 24% less when you compare them to the budget that they had just a few years ago. It would seem that public allocations for healthcare services are dropping more than people realise and it’s so important that people do what they can to try and give others the help they need when it comes to overstretched nursing services. This is even more the case when you look at the impact that the pandemic has had on nurses in general.

The CQC have stated that they want to try and take a new national approach when it comes to end of life care. They have stated that there is a worrying variation when it comes to the experiences that people have and this has been exacerbated as the result of the pandemic. The regulator has published the final report from the review, and they have asked the government to see if they can conduct their own response to the concerns about DNACRP orders. The decision to implement this kind of order has to be made by a senior clinician. This has to be done after a very careful assessment of the situation and it also has to be done with the family’s consent. The CQC review has been focused on those who are older, as well as those who may have learning disabilities. It's been uncovered that there’s an inconsistent approach and that there could even be some breaches of basic human rights.

The CQC have tried to support DNACPR orders, but with a blanket approach for groups of patients. This can include those who have learning disabilities, and when you break all of this down, you will see that it relates to discrimination. Out of the 2000 adult care services that happened to respond, 199 felt as though they had been subjected to decisions regarding DNACPR, and that they felt as though it was a blanket approach. In one area, it would seem that the GP had sent out letters to care homes about putting blanket decisions in place regarding those who have learning disabilities. Of course, this needs to change, and if you work in a nurse agency or a nursing recruitment agency then you will know that this won’t come easily.

There appears to be a lot of confusion regarding the status of nurses who happen to be working on both sides of the border. This is especially the case between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. If you work in an Irish nurse agency or if you are seeking work at an Irish nursing recruitment agency then you may have run into some issues already.

Northern Ireland shares some services with the Republic. This happens to include the cardiology services as well as some cancer services. You also have some clinicians who choose to work across both sides of the border. The Telegraph has reported that they could be arrested if they do not have dual registration by the end of the month. This is even the case if you are a doctor, or an esteemed surgeon. The BBC website has reported that 100 nurses and medics have to make sure that they are registered in both countries. If they aren’t, then they may not be allowed to operate and this can result in legal consequences.

Nursing regulators who work in the UK have told the Nursing Times that not a whole not has changed. Nurses who work in both nations have always had to have some kind of dual registration, but of course, Brexit is going to bring some new factors into this. The EU transition period has given a lot of flexibility to workers but at the same time, this isn’t really available anymore. It’s said that well over 70 nurses are going to have to get a level of dual-registration by the end of March if they want to be able to work south of the Irish border. This is very bad news to anyone who does not intend to get registered.

Right now, the government have to make a lot of efforts to try and reach as many nursing staff as they can. Surveys have shown that the majority of people who haven’t received or even been offered the vaccine are actually employed outside of the NHS. Of course, when you look at the 24,000 responses, you will soon see that the recent surveys that have been done by the RCN show that 85% of the respondents had at least one dose of the vaccine and that 7% of them have had both doses. This is a huge achievement for the program and by the looks of things, it would seem that nursing staff are really keeping up with their end by working hard and ensuring that people are comfortable getting it. Those who work as part of a nurse agency or even as part of a nursing recruitment agency really are doing everything they can to ensure that they are helping others to feel assured. The main issue is that 15% of respondents had not received the vaccine and the results do show that out of those who have been offered it, over 70% of them happen to work in non-NHS settings. Of course, it doesn’t matter where they worked because two out of five nursing agencies and one out of four staff had not received a vaccine at all. This is when you compare it to one out of 8 hospital workers. The RCN have been providing a lot of advice and support to those who might have been having a hard time accessing the vaccine. They are going to continue monitoring the vaccine and they are also going to be giving as much help to those who need it.

There are going to be a lot of changes to the NHS in England as many are trying to tackle the bureaucracy and they are also trying to encourage health and social services to work much closer together as well. The UK government have been putting a real focus on those who work as part of a nurse agency as well as those who work in a nursing recruitment agency too. They have legislative plans for the NHS in the UK and they have been published. They have proposed that some of the changes should be reversed as more of the reforms are introduced. This is all going to be done through the Health and Social Care Act that was released in 2012. This saw the creation of the NHS England and it also meant that a lot of primary care trusts are scrapped as well.

The white paper has set out a number of changes and it is also going to discuss the NHS long-term plan as well. This is going to look at the long-term plan for the NHS and it’s going to give integrated care systems as well. This is going to create a good statutory footing and it’s also going to remove any barriers for the collaboration as well. As if that wasn’t enough, it’s also going to remove any incentives for competition while reducing bureaucracy. The RCN is very clear that the nursing leadership has to be recognised and it needs to play a part in the integrated healthcare systems as well. This isn’t just because nursing is the biggest workforce, instead, it’s actually because of the skills and also the expertise that a lot of nurses bring in so that they can meet the overall holistic needs of their patients.

All frontline or social care workers can now easily book their Covid-19 vaccine. They can do this online and the system has been fully introduced to try and help out those who might not have been able to get their injections yet. The booking service allows all of those who work in a big nurse agency or even professionals who are operating in multiple nursing recruitment agency jobs to get their frontline vaccine and this is going to help them to work safely. They are allowed to be given the vaccine whether they work as part of the NHS or not. This means that all staff who might be eligible, including temporary staff and those who work in the independent sector can easily book an appointment. This is of course, for a limited time and you need to make sure that you do it before the 28th of February if possible.

You can do this via the NHS website or you can do it over the phone if you want. If you do want to do it over the phone then you should know that it is free of charge and you can do it from 7am until 11pm. You can do this 7 days a week as well. Of course, as part of the booking process, you will need to declare whether or not you are a healthcare or social worker and you will also need to bring over proof of employment. The new push is going to come from the government and the RCN have even raised concerns that the staff are in fact, slipping through the net. This is designed to stop that while also ensuring that people are really given the support that they need throughout the whole process.

Nurses really have been commended due to the enormous role that they have played in ultimately helping the UK to hit a major milestone. They have been able to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine to everyone who might be part of the top four priority groups. As well as those who are over the age of 70 and the clinically vulnerable, it would seem that frontline workers and even health and social workers are being given the chance to have their very first dose. They believe that they have never been prouder to be able to work for the NHS or to be a nurse. Even though the programme has been able to reach over 15 million people, it would seem that one fifth of staff who work in a nurse agency or even a nursing recruitment agency have not been able to take up the offer yet. There are ongoing concerns that there is a lower uptake amongst those who come from BAME backgrounds as they are concerned about their health in the profession.

An analysis from a hospital which is in Leicester found that even though 70% of white staff had been in fact vaccinated, it would seem that it was only 36.8% of black staff have had the vaccine. The take-up in the NHS is rising all the time and it would seem that right now it stands at four-fifths overall. That being said, the lower uptake is certainly going to mean that some who are part of minor ethnic groups is lower and that this is going to have a huge impact on the overall state of the workforce. Who knows what the future holds but right now it would seem that there is a lot of work that needs to be done.