A United Kingdom Government recruitment drive aims to bring thousands of nurses and probation officers into the Public Service.
The Ministry of Justice is seeking 1,000 new probation officers just months after it announced the service would be brought back under Government control following what is generally agreed as a disastrous experiment in part-privatisation.
The Department for Education has also approved more than 3,000 additional university positions to study nursing after record National Health Service (NHS) vacancy levels were recorded in 2019.
The public sector jobs boost comes after years of austerity-led cutbacks.
Last year Prime Minister, Boris Johnson promised to recruit 20,000 new police officers in England and Wales following years of declining numbers.
“The fantastic teachers, police officers and NHS workers truly are the pride of the nation and embody the spirit of public duty that every one of us can aspire towards,” Mr Johnson said.
In 2019 there were 44,000 nursing vacancies across the NHS — around 12 per cent of the nursing workforce — with the service highly reliant on non-European Union staff after the country’s exit from the EU.
The Government says it also wants to introduce more wellbeing schemes to give emotional support to front-line staff with professional counselling and buddy programs.
However, Director of the Royal College of Nursing for England, Mike Adams said he expected “greater ambition” from the Government, including support for would-be nurses with their fees and maintenance costs.
“These kinds of announcements, on their own, are not enough,” Mr Adams said.
“By the time they finish their education, these students will be left in debt which, for many, will never be paid off,” he said.
London, 1 August 2020
