Cancer nursing on the line
UK cancer services are slowly recovering from the devastating blow caused by Covid-19, but the pandemic has exposed the terrible strain the cancer workforce has been under for many years.
Macmillan’s new research, Cancer Nursing on the Line (PDF), highlights that there aren’t enough specialist cancer nurses, and those we have are being stretched too thin. Too many people with cancer are missing out on vital one-to-one support.
Macmillan is calling for Governments across the UK to invest around £170 million to fund the training costs of creating nearly 4,000 specialist cancer nurses required in 2030 to provide the care people need.
Addressing the cancer workforce gap
Macmillan’s most recent workforce census demonstrated that there are worrying vacancy rates across specialist cancer nurse roles in England, with significant geographic variation. Subsequent patient and workforce reported data still demonstrates unmet need amongst people living with cancer.
The Government must provide a multi-year funding settlement to support a comprehensive plan to grow the NHS workforce. This should include plans to reverse the current and increasing gap in the specialist cancer nurse workforce.
You can find out more about how we’ve modelled the future specialist cancer nursing workforce in our Addressing the gap report (PDF).
Voices from the frontline
The cancer workforce is struggling to meet current requirements, let alone prepare for increasing future demand.
As more people are being diagnosed with cancer, and more people are living longer with more complex conditions, the role of the specialist cancer nurse in supporting them navigate complex care and support pathways cannot be underestimated. But this is a workforce under strain.
Our latest report Voices from the frontline: challenges facing cancer clinical nurse specialists right now, draws on the experiences of specialists and lead cancer nurses to explore the barriers nurses face in accessing continuing professional development and the impact this has on patient care and the sustainability of the specialist nursing workforce.
The way forward
We want to see a strategic approach to workforce planning, training and education; so that everyone with cancer has the highest standard of coordinated care and support during and after treatment.
Our key recommendations
- The Secretary of State for Health must ensure that the NHS has the sustainable nursing workforce required to deliver the care people living with cancer need.
- NHS England, NHS Improvement and Health Education England must urgently deliver a costed cancer workforce plan. This must be based on realistic estimates of the workforce numbers that will be required to meet the needs of people living with cancer.
- The Chancellor must support this plan by providing the long-term investment needed in the next multi-year spending review.
- NHS England, NHS Improvement and Health Education England must act urgently to boost the supply and retention of the general adult nursing workforce. This is necessary to ensure all nurses have backfill for their clinical commitments to undertake CPD; and to ensure a pipeline for specialist nursing roles.
- Health Education England’s CPD budget should be restored, as a minimum, to its former highest level of £205m.