More than 65,000 former nurses and doctors will be told ‘Your NHS Needs You’ as a national recruitment drive is launched in an effort to defeat the coronavirus outbreak.
The drive comes as Boris Johnson took time to thank you to ‘everyone working in our NHS’. In a tweet the prime minister told NHS staff of ‘every specialism and role’: ‘We’ve never needed you more than we do today.’
England’s top nurse and top doctor have today called on colleagues who left the health service in recent years to re-register and help tackle the ‘greatest global health threat’ in a century.
Those who have left the profession within the last three years, and who have up to date skills and experience, will be asked to return to the NHS frontline.
Final year medical students and student nurses will also be offered temporary, fully-paid roles to help boost the health service amid the rapidly growing pandemic.
A woman wears a surgical mask as she carries study guides across the Millennium Bridge, near St Paul’s Cathedral in London, amid Britain’s growing coronavirus outbreak
It comes as Britain’s coronavirus death toll hit 137 today, with Scotland’s fatalities doubling overnight and Northern Ireland confirming its first victim of the life-threatening infection.
Officials announced 33 more deaths amid the country’s 2,695 infections, the joint highest daily fatality count recorded on British soil since the crisis began to spiral out of control last week.
In an unprecedented call-to-arms, NHS England will survey those who have recently left the health service, including retirees, on what type of role they could take on either through NHS 111 or face-to-face.
Staff will be asked to ‘opt in’ to a register to fill a range of clinical and non-clinical roles across the NHS based on their skills and time away from practice.
A man, wearing a protective face mask, walks in front of the Bank of England following an outbreak of the coronavirus in London
A sign informs passengers that Barbican Underground station is temporarily closed in London
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: ‘NHS and social care staff are doing an incredible job in the fight against coronavirus, and we want to ensure they are fully supported.
‘To further boost the ranks of our NHS, we are now turning to people who have recently left the healthcare professions who can bring their experience and expertise to our health system.
‘They can play a crucial role in maximising our capacity to fight this outbreak – and wherever they can help, they will be hugely welcomed.
‘This continues to be a huge national effort to protect lives and protect our NHS, and I urge everyone to continue following the latest medical advice.’
Those who join the so-called ‘NHS army’ will be given a full induction and online training to help them hit the ground running.
More than 65,000 former nurses and doctors will today be told ‘Your NHS Needs You’ as a national recruitment drive is launched (Pictured: Health Secretary Matt Hancock)
Britain’s coronavirus death toll hit 137 today, with Scotland’s fatalities doubling overnight and Northern Ireland confirming its first victim of the life-threatening infection (Pictured: Empty shelves in a supermarket in London)
Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England, said: ‘As the health service gears up to deal with the greatest global health threat in its history, my message to former colleagues is ‘Your NHS Needs You’.
‘Our wonderful nurses in every corner of the country are preparing to change the way we work so that we can provide the right care for the rising numbers of people who will need it.
‘But we can’t do it alone, so I am urging all recent former nurses to lend us your expertise and experience during this pandemic, because I have no doubt that you can help to save lives. And I’m grateful for senior students providing expert care in this time with their NHS colleagues.’
In an unprecedented call-to-arms, NHS England will survey those who have recently left the health service, including retirees, on what type of role they could take on (Pictured: Westminster Abbey)
The Nursing and Midwifery Council will write to more than 50,000 nurses whose registration has lapsed in the last three years.
The General Medical Council will write to another 15,500 doctors who have left the medical register since 2017.
Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS, said: ‘Our hardworking NHS staff are working round the clock to get ready for the peak of the pandemic, and today we are calling on former staff to come back and help us.
‘It is only right we use every means at our disposal to bolster the frontline in the face of this unprecedented challenge for the NHS.
‘By offering to return to the NHS now, these thousands of well-qualified and compassionate people will make more of a difference than ever before – not just to patients, but to colleagues and the wider community.’
The coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 224,000 worldwide, with around 9,250 deaths reported as a result of the virus.