A highly-regarded course at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) has been chosen to train future cohorts of Learning Disability Nurses for three NHS Trusts.
DMU has been commissioned to provide an extra 20 places per year as part of the new partnership with Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire NHS Trusts.
SUPPORT: Members of Leicester-based theatre company Movers performed at a DMU nursing Learning Disability Day in 2015
This exciting move will see DMU start to become the centre for Learning Disability Nursing training in the East Midlands, says Chris Whitney-Cooper, Head of School of Nursing and Midwifery.
She said: “We have 20 commissions – 10 in September 2016 and 10 in March 2017. This puts DMU at the heart of Learning Disability Nursing training and seeing that area of health improved.
RELATED NEWS
Come to a DMU Open Day and see which nursing career is for you
DMU grad who helped fight Ebola in line for royal accolade
Generous DMU nursing students help families in need
“We will be working closely with Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire healthcare to recruit students and develop the training.
HIGH REGARD: Chris Whitney-Cooper
“We are changing the curriculum to reduce the time student nurses spend here so they can go back to their local areas, which is much better for them.”
The partnership follows recent restructuring within the University of Nottingham, which took on its last cohort of student nurses last year.
The extra 20 places are specifically for students who wish to be based in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire or Lincolnshire during their practice placements. Classroom-based activity will be delivered from DMU’s Leicester campus and course leaders are developing a range of online, academic-outreach and financial options for students undertaking placements outside of Leicestershire.
Ms Whitney-Cooper added that DMU will also work closely with the University of Northampton to raise the profile of Learning Disability Nursing in the region.
Julian Eve, Associate Director of Learning and Development, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The Trust remains committed to employing the specific skill set delivered by Learning Disability Nursing. The move to commissioning nursing students at DMU is an inevitable indicator of changing business priorities, but the Trust has worked hard to ensure that there will be a regional offer of training and we will be working even harder to ensure that Nottinghamshire-based placements are maintained.”
Adam Clifford, Specialist Intellectual Disabilities Community Nurse, added: “DMU already run a well-respected Learning Disability Nursing branch programme, which helped them win a rigorous tendering process against a number of leading higher education institutions.”
Posted on Thursday 7 January 2016