Halt UK Nursing Degrees

This should be front page news. We have massive shortages of staff yet no jobs? Make it make sense.

Trouble is, if you made it front page news in the current climate with our gutter press, immigrants would get the blame. Instead, it's years and years of cuts coming home to roost, that dam was always going to break. Despite all the talk of "more money than ever going into the NHS", it isn't enough, we're living longer and treatments are more expensive and hi-tech. Plus, NHS Trusts have had to make massive 'efficiency savings' year-in, year-out for decades, doing more with less and getting into expensive debt (which costs money to service and feels like a totally short-sighted own goal for a public service). It is completely **** and has been a blatantly obvious oncoming trainwreck to anyone with half an eye on the situation.
I'm with you, I wouldn't train into a registered healthcare profession in the current climate either. I'm sorry to anyone who has already trained and finds themselves in this situation. It's sad because as you say, the workforce is desperately needed. However, roles are like hen's teeth and when you do get a job, the working conditions (especially in acute) are grim. Nursing used to open up so many opportunities, and we're used to peaks and dips in recruitment, but this is a different animal. It's not like a recruitment freeze because Trusts have run out of budget before the end of the financial year (post-Christmas freezes, re-opening with the new tax year in April), that's always happened, some years have been worse than others. The April ads never materialised. Staff retired or left and their posts frozen, rebanded, or amalgamated and lost forever in efficiency savings. Meanwhile, the staff left on the floor are burning out like never before.

LOL says me - who is waiting to enrol on an OT MSc. I plan on going private though to be honest.