HEE unveils second wave of Nursing Associate test sites

Health Education England (HEE) has today announced the test sites that will deliver the second wave of training for the new nursing associate role.

24 sites across the country have been selected to deliver the training over two years for 1,000 nursing associates role in this exciting new role that will sit alongside existing nursing care support workers and fully-qualified registered nurses to deliver hands-on care for patients. The training will start in 2017.

The role will bridge the gap between health and care support workers, who have a care certificate, and graduate registered nurses and offers opportunities for health care assistants to progress into nursing roles.

The sites bring together a wide range of organisations including educational institutions, care homes, acute, community and mental health trusts and hospices, representing the variety of places where Nursing Associates will provide care for patients.

Professor Ian Cumming, Chief Executive, HEE, said:

We are at a pivotal point in determining what the future nursing and care workforce needs to look like for now and in the years to come. I passionately believe that this new role will help build the capacity and capability of the health and social care workforce and allow high quality care to be delivered to a diverse and ageing population. Over the last few months we’ve seen widespread support for such a role – we will now move swiftly to make this role a reality and a success.

Professor Lisa Bayliss Pratt, Director of Nursing and Deputy Director of Education and Quality, HEE, said:

The high level of interest in delivering training for this important role means that we have been able to select even more sites to take forward the training. It further underlines the real appetite for helping to deliver this new role which we believe can provide a real benefit to the nursing and care workforce across a range of settings and play a key role in the delivery of patient care with safety at its heart.

I would like to express my personal thanks to everyone who has shown interest in becoming a test site.

A full list of the successful test sites can be found at Annex A. The first wave of 1,000 Nursing Associates will start their training journey in December.