Nursing scheme to end due to funding pressures

A rotation scheme to develop newly-qualified nurses (NQNs) across Derbyshire is set to be scrapped due to funding problems.

The Derbyshire Nurse scheme, gives nursing graduates a chance to work across different areas of the profession, in hospitals, mental health wards and in the community, rotating over an 18-month period.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said it was "disappointed" and added the scheme enabled new nurses to broaden their skills in different clinical settings.

Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust (DCHS), which led the programme, said trusts were having to reprioritise their resources elsewhere.

The programme is made up of three, six-month rotations, lasting 18 months in total across the Joined-Up Care Derbyshire system. One of the rotations takes place in an acute and mental health setting.

Upon completion of the rotations programme, NQNs are offered a Band 5 position within a Derbyshire NHS trust with a starting salary of £31,049.

The scheme was a finalist in the Team of the Year category for the Nursing Times Awards 2024.

NHS bosses in the region said despite the "successes and national interest", the programme had "faced repeated challenges regarding funding" and the decision was made to "pause recruitment" to the programme.

By August 2026, when the programme ends due to "financial and sponsorship challenges", 53 NQNs will have rotated across Derbyshire since its inception, bosses added.

Minutes from a DCHS board meeting heard the board were "disappointed" at the decision but "acknowledged the financial pressures all organisations are facing".

They added they hoped the programme would be revisited in the future.

A RCN spokesperson said: "It's disappointing that newly-registered nurses will no longer have an opportunity to rotate around different clinical settings and broaden their skills and practice.

"Integrating provision for the benefit of each patient remains a key aspiration in health and social care, so it's a pity that an initiative that supports this agenda is to cease."

Abby Trainer, chief nurse at Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We have been leading the NQN rotation programme on behalf of Joined Up Care Derbyshire.

"It has allowed NQNs an opportunity to work in different healthcare settings.

"With financial constraints affecting the NHS some partner organisations involved in the rotation are now having to prioritise other things.

"While this is disappointing for us we understand difficult decisions need to be made at an organisational level."

Krishna Kallianpur, chief nurse at Chesterfield Royal Hospital, said: "We have had to prioritise funding to support our service needs and, whilst we absolutely recognise the importance of the developing opportunities for those on the programme, currently, we are not in a position to support this longer term."

A spokesperson for University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust confirmed they were no longer providing funding for the scheme but continue to recruit newly qualified nurses directly to the trust with a dedicated training and development team.

Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.