Coronavirus

The government has considered reducing the number of years that nurses spend in training, to try and meet its 50,000 additional nurses target, evidence from the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has revealed. Nurse leaders have responded to the revelation with concern, and have urged the government to confirm that plans to…

A general practice nurse has been struck off after she gave spare Covid-19 vaccine doses to friends during the coronavirus pandemic, even though they were not eligible at the time. Diana Mary Morris, a registered nurse since 1986, was working at a GP surgery in Gloucestershire when she administered spare…

A former civil servant has spoken about a culture of sexism inside government at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and admitted there was a “reluctance” to admit the NHS could fail under the strain. Helen MacNamara, who, between 2020 and 2021, was deputy cabinet secretary in the Cabinet Office,…

One in 20 people infected with Covid-19 have symptoms which last more than a year, a leading study into the virus has found. The Real-time Assessment of Community Transmission (REACT) study, carried out by Imperial College London researchers, this week published its latest survey results which found that a “significant…

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has confirmed when its temporary Covid-19 register will close. The Covid-19 emergency temporary register, set up in March 2020 to help fill workforce gaps during the pandemic, allowed former and some internationally-qualified nurses to practise as registered nurses in the UK. "The height of…

This year’s autumn Covid-19 and influenza vaccine programmes will begin earlier than planned in England, following the identification of a new Covid-19 variant. Nurses will be among those eligible to receive the vaccine first when the programme starts on 11 September in England. “It is absolutely vital the most vulnerable…

A survey has indicated that around half of all nurses in Finland considered leaving the profession during the pandemic, while the vast majority also said they were underpaid. The survey found 45% of nurses in the Nordic country had weekly thoughts of leaving during Covid-19, compared to 11% beforehand, with…

Lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic should be a “catalyst for accelerating global action on patient safety”, leading clinicians from across the world have said. Writing in The Lancet earlier this month, they said now was the time for governments and organisations to reflect on some of the risks that…

Health employers must take preventative measures to avoid staff burnout, rather than treat it like a medical condition, a new report has said. Professor Gail Kinman, co-author of a Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) report into burnout, said employers needed to mitigate the “extreme” conditions nurses and other healthcare professionals…

Frontline health and care workers, and care home staff and residents, will be offered an autumn Covid-19 booster vaccination, it has been announced. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) today recommended who would be eligible for the autumn vaccine and that it should no longer be routinely offered…