MINISTER of State for Health Andrew Stephenson MP visited Worcester and met with Marc Bayliss and the city’s current MP Robin Walker to help celebrate the success of meeting the government’s target of 50,000 extra nurses in the NHS ahead of target.
Mr Stephenson visited the Three Counties Medical School at the University of Worcester as part of his trip on Thursday (November 30) which coincided with the government hitting the target set in its 2019 manifesto.
Data published by NHS England shows there were 51,245 additional nurses in September 2023 compared to 2019. This means the number of nurses has increased from 300,904 in 2019 to over 352,000 – hitting the government’s manifesto commitment to recruit an additional 50,000 nurses six months early.
This is the largest ever sustained growth in the NHS nursing workforce, with the expanded workforce delivering hundreds of thousands of extra appointments, helping to tackle waiting lists and improve access for patients.
Commenting on the achievement Mr Bayliss, the city’s Conservative candidate said:
“It was great to be able to welcome the minister to Worcester on the very day that the government delivered on one of its most important manifesto commitments.
“Our NHS is so vital to our society and delivering the biggest boost in nursing numbers will make a big impact on our mission to get waiting times down and deliver the high-quality care patients rightly expect.”
During the minister’s visit MR Bayliss was also able to thank him for the extra £25mILLION investment in the Emergency department at the Worcestershire Royal as well as make the case for further support to help improve access to NHS dentistry in the city.
