asked Her Majesty's Government:

What proportion of (a) permanently employed nurses, and (b) nurse bank staff have not received mandatory training; why funds made available for this training have been used for other purposes; and what steps are being taken to ensure that NHS trusts, including primary care trusts, develop and fund mandatory training for nurses.[HL7295]

All health professionals have a duty to keep up to date in the field in which they practise. The relevant regulatory and professional bodies lay down requirements for this and failure to reach the necessary standard may call the practitioner’s registration into question. The post-registration training needs of National Health Service professionals, including nurses, are decided by local NHS organisations against regulatory requirements, local NHS priorities, and through appraisal processes and training-needs analyses informed by local delivery plans and the needs of the service.

We believe that funding for training generally should be used to ensure that staff at all levels have the opportunity to access training opportunities. In this way some may progress through the skills escalator to professional training programmes. However, it is for each strategic health authority to decide its own priorities for investment and to focus training resources where they are most needed.