The government are set to try and renege a pledge that has been made. The pledge is for £5m and it is going to be put towards training nurses and even midwives too. This is going to be the case for developing countries across the world. The announcement was brought to light by Nursing Times and the funds were promised all the way back in 2018. Some believe that it was the government’s way of trying to support the campaign for Nursing Now and the groundwork for 180 projects has been done. The problem is that they are now pulling the plug on the funding as UK aid is being cut. This is all being done in response to Covid-19. The £5m that has been allocated is being replaced by the FCDO. This is being done throughout the UK and it’s also part of the UKPHS programme too.

The UKPHS programme is being managed by the THET and they have the aim to try and help build way more resilient healthcare programs. They believe that by creating reciprocal partnerships between other institutions across the world. They are doing this with middle-income countries. If you work as part of a nurse agency or even a nursing recruitment agency then this is a huge blow.

Of course, in a letter, the FCDO have stated that the decision is in fact a direct result of the pandemic and that they could not have predicted that this would happen. They have caused a lot of foreign aid to be cut and they are also concerned about the national income too.

Earlier in the month, Wendy Morton confirmed that with the closure of the programme, it would seem that they are not going to be able to meet the commitment and that this is going to really stunt the development of doctors and nurses. Of course, only time will tell what the future holds.