The recent proposal by Cardiff University to cut 400 jobs, including roles within nursing programmes (Ferguson, 2025), raises serious concerns for healthcare education and the wider community. This decision is particularly alarming given the persistent workforce shortages across the NHS in all four nations of the UK and signals not just a financial issue, but a societal crisis.
Impact on the workforce
These are public sector jobs and individuals who provide fundamental access to advanced and consultant level practice. Nursing shortages in Wales and the UK as a whole are already at critical levels, with less than a quarter of NHS shifts in Wales fully staffed and patient safety increasingly at risk due to workforce gaps (Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Wales, 2024).
Wales is facing particular health challenges. Its population is ageing making innovative health provision a top priority (Older People's Commissioner for Wales, 2022). The proportion of people over the age of 60 is expected to rise to 30% of the population by 2030. Wales already has worrying vacancy rates for nursing at around 2000 (RCN Wales, 2024). Cutting academic jobs in nursing will only make it harder to train, retain, and recruit the workforce we desperately need.
Rural health services face unique difficulties with the recruitment and retention of staff. Wales also sees the demands from conditions that are more prevalent in later life such as cancer and dementia.
This profile suggests the need for a health workforce that is responsive to the challenges being faced. An NHS workplan emphasises future proofing of the workforce and filling gaps that exist (Welsh Government, 2023). However, this relies on a supply of registered nurses as a key component of the future workforce.
Wales cannot afford to destroy its pipeline of nurses and NHS services that cannot retain their nurses will no longer be able to rely on the nurses that Cardiff University provides. Two intakes per year have long been the norm at Cardiff, despite the challenges in recruiting sufficient students to all three branches (adult, child and mental health). On top of this is the challenge of having sufficient clinical placements that address students’ expectations by having enough clinical staff available to teach and support the rising numbers of students being commissioned from Cardiff and other local universities.
Health Education and Improvement Wales, has increased contract numbers (and funding) year on year but it has proved difficult for universities to fill these places, and making even relatively simple changes, such as having one intake per year, have been resisted by the NHS who have grown to rely on newly registered nurses being available at two timepoints to fill gaps arising from failure to retain staff.
Solutions to the healthcare workforce crisis
Some argue that bursaries are the solution, but the evidence does not support this. Wales still funds nursing students through a bursary system, yet the country is struggling with workforce shortages just like England (RCN Wales, 2024). The issue is not just financial support for students, but retention, working conditions, and the capacity to train enough nurses in the first place. By reducing provision, this will have an immediate impact on a local workforce pipeline.
The commissioning of nurse education needs to become more creative to meet the needs of all sections of the health system. Demand that will only rise from an ageing population.
All universities should acknowledge and reinforce their commitment to addressing health challenges as part of their civic responsibility. They are part of the solution, and it is not enough to say that pre- and post-qualifying education for the nursing workforce is now someone else's problem. The Welsh Government will surely be giving serious consideration to how its workforce plans will be achieved if nursing is lost at Cardiff. New models of commissioning and education delivery need to be explored urgently.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (NHS England, 2023) aims to address staffing challenges in England over the next 15 years, emphasising the expansion of training programmes across multiple healthcare professions, with higher education institutions like Buckinghamshire New University and others ready to contribute. A key focus is on increasing the number of nurses and nursing associates, with a target of 5000 nursing associates commencing training in both 2023/24 and 2024/25 (NHS England, 2023). Given that the number of nursing associates on the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register has increased by 6.2% in the past 6 months to 11 551, they play a growing role in workforce sustainability (NMC, 2024).
International recruitment has long supported the NHS workforce, but current trends highlight potential risks. For the first time, over 200 000 internationally educated professionals are on the NMC register, making up 23.8% of the UK nursing and midwifery workforce. However, international recruitment is slowing, with 16.6% fewer overseas professionals joining the register and 33% more leaving in the 6 months to September 2024 compared with the previous year (NMC, 2024). The total number of new registrants, whether trained in the UK or internationally, fell by 9.2%, while the number of leavers rose by 6.3%. Alarmingly, the number of professionals leaving within 5 years of registration increased by 48.6%, reinforcing concerns about workforce retention.
What the cuts will mean
Cutting nursing education jobs at Cardiff University will further constrain the pipeline of newly qualified nurses and nursing associates, exacerbating an already critical workforce challenge. At a time when shortages are acute, reducing training capacity risks serious consequences for patient care and safety. Although financial pressures on universities are undeniable, they must be weighed against the pressing need to sustain a well-trained healthcare workforce.
Moving forward
It is important that the value of contemporary nursing and the role it now plays in health delivery are understood, rather than relying on out-of-date tropes that view nursing as task driven and requiring low education attainment (James et al, 2024). Higher education and health care are not just businesses, they are linked to strategy, government policy, and long-term plans that sustain our communities and our national wellbeing. Universities and governments must prioritise nursing education, or we risk deepening the crisis in our healthcare organisations and all our futures will be directly impacted. Investment in nursing education, including registered nurses, nursing associates, and other essential healthcare roles, is vital to ensuring the NHS can meet the future health needs of the population.