Unite Fears That Government Has Dropped School Nurse Pledge, England

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 15 Feb 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Fears have been expressed that the government has jettisoned a five-year old policy that every secondary school in England should have a specialist school nurse in place by 2010.

Unite, the largest union in the country, will be asking ministers what they mean by 'a school nurse team' in every local area, as outlined in the government's new Vision for a 21st century children's health service.

In the government's Choosing Health White Paper, produced in 2004, it was stated that every one of the 3,300 secondary schools in England and its cluster of primary schools would have a specialist school nurse in post by 2010 - just ten months away.

Unite National Officer for Health, Karen Reay said: 'However, we are dismayed that there is only a vague reference in this latest document to a 'school health team' in every local area, with no definition as to the size of that area.'

According to the latest NHS statistics, there are fewer than 900 whole-time equivalent (WTE) school nurses in England to look after millions of school children.

Karen Reay said: 'We fear that the government has reneged on its commitment to have a full-time qualified school nurse in every secondary school.'

'However, our members report that the service is at breaking point - made more pressurised as school nurses are now immunising all Year 8 girls against cervical cancer. Next year, there will be a massive 'catch-up' planned for all girls in Years 10 and 11.'

Ros Godson, Unite/CPHVA Professional Officer for School-Aged Children said: 'We have called for the immediate employment of 2,000 more qualified school nurses in England to monitor and give advice on the overall health of school-aged children, on issues such as teenage pregnancy, and alcohol and drug misuse.'

Unite has also called on the government to ensure that all 152 primary care trusts in England commit money to each train ten new school nurses from September 2009.

The latest NHS workforce statistics show there has been a 9.6% increase in the number of whole-time equivalent (WTE) school nurses from 815 to 893 in the year up to September, 2007. According to the DCSF, there were 3,343 secondary schools in England, as of January 2007.

Unite (Amicus section) is the third largest union in the NHS. It has seven professional sections: the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association, the Mental Health Nurses Association, the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists, the Society of Sexual Health Advisers, the Medical Practitioners' Union, College of Healthcare Chaplains, and the Hospital Physicists Association.

Unite was formed by an amalgamation of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union in May 2007.

http://www.unitetheunion.com