CLCH joins nurse associate pilot

We're delighted to be part of the national pilots for nurse associate roles. These are a new role to help bridge the gap between health care assistants and qualified nurses and it's hoped they'll add to the skill mix options for building the best possible teams to support patients.

Louise Ashley, CLCH Chief Nurse, said: "This is an exciting development in nursing and it's great that CLCH is taking a leading role as part of the pilots. We hope nurse associate roles will give people new career opportunities and help us tackle some of the recruitment challenges we face."

There are 11 pilot areas across the country which will begin training 1,000 nursing associates this year. We're part of three London based pilots. Each pilot has a lead Trust and a number of partners. We'll be working with St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Whittington Health NHS Trust, and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer for England said: "The new role has clear benefits for registered nurses, providing additional support and releasing time to provide the assessment and care they are trained to do, as well as undertake more advanced tasks. This will ensure we use the right skills in the right place and at the right time. The introduction of Nursing Associates is a positive and welcome step forward and I look forward to following progress made as training begins."

There is more information about the pilots on Health Education England's website.