Exclusive: Gloucestershire students latest victims of placements mix-up

Students at the University of Gloucestershire were informed, at the end of May, that many of them would need to take on additional placement hours to be eligible for professional registration via the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

“A lot of people have questioned whether they want to be a nurse anymore”

Anonymous student

This was because a review by the NMC at the start of the year found a “small number” of activities students had completed at the university, to reach the required total of 2,300 practice hours, including some simulated practice time, were not compliant to meet the regulator’s Standards for Student Supervision and Assessment (SSSA).

The situation at the university comes after Nursing Times reported similar issues around miscounting of placement hours at Canterbury Christ Church University and University of Brighton.

Now, an anonymous group of students at Gloucestershire have told Nursing Times about their plight to qualify on time.

They said some of them were facing taking on seven-day working weeks, juggling university and paid work, to meet their expected registration date – and enter their secured jobs. Others, the group said, had so many missed hours that they would be registering late no matter what.

A university spokesperson claimed that for “most” students, the impact was “minimal or zero”.

However, one adult nursing student who has been supporting impacted peers said she understood that at least 70 students had seen some of their completed hours removed.

Students had raised concerns with the university as early as 2023 after hearing about the problems at other universities, but they were assured that there was no issue with their hours, the adult nursing student claimed.

She was then informed in May 2024 that she had 60 hours to make up.

This means she is facing seven-day weeks across the next few months in order to qualify on time, with the additional unpaid placements, university work, family responsibilities and paid work.

“I’m not in that position [of qualifying late], I will be able to get my hours done, but by knocking myself sidewise,” she said.

“Some of us aren’t 19, 20, 21 – some of us are [older]. Some of us have grown up children, little children, some are youngsters trying to get started in life and we have been left in this position from no fault of our own.

“We still have another simulation session to go to as well, so I’m just thinking – literally seven days a week I’m in my car and having to go somewhere. It’s not just 60 hours for me, or 100 hours for others – it’s those hours on top of everything else we still have to do.”

This, she said, meant the cohort were under “overwhelming pressure” to complete their course on time.

Other students are impacted even worse. Some, the anonymous student told Nursing Times, had found out they had as many as 200 hours to make up and would enter the NMC register late – though the university claims the maximum someone would have to make up was 126.

The university said the only students who would qualify late were those with large numbers of absences. However, the students said this was not necessarily the case, in part because some were still unsure if their placement employers could take them on for the extra time.

“[We feel] humongous disappointment in our university experience, [which] really ended on a sour note,” the adult nursing student further said.

“It doesn’t help us that this has happened to other universities, we have the utmost empathy for those other students.

“When we read about it before, we thought, ‘oh that’s terrible, let’s hope that doesn’t happen to us’. But we didn’t ever think it would be because we were constantly reassured.”

The student added: “The last four months have been absolute hell.”

“The outcome is that for most of our students, the number of additional hours that need completing is either minimal or zero”

University of Gloucestershire spokesperson

Another student, who was told she had to make up 80 hours due to the error, criticised the university’s handling of the situation – in particular the long time it took to put the plans in place to correct it and the lack of communication.

“A lot of people have questioned whether they want to be a nurse anymore,” she said.

“There is just no accountability. This duty of candour is a nurse’s bread and butter.

“But this nursing school has not kept to that. There’s no transparency.”

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN)’s South West England branch is supporting impacted students.

An RCN spokesperson said: “We have been contacted by some RCN members who are concerned that they may not complete their practice hours by the end of the course.

“We are supporting these members to raise their concerns with the university who, we understand, are offering solutions on an individual basis, enabling students to meet the requirements for qualification and graduate. Any RCN member who is facing difficulties should contact us through RCN Direct.”

The error in the calculation of the hours also impacts those who are not in their final year, though they will have enough time to avoid it impacting their registration timeline.

A University of Gloucestershire spokesperson said: “While we recognise that this is a frustrating situation for our students, we have communicated with our students openly and consistently throughout this time, sharing as much information as we have been able to, as soon as possible.

“We will continue to support our students if they have concerns or face difficulties in achieving any of the course requirements.”

The spokesperson added that the communication to students that some hours would have to be made up came after an NMC inspection, and following a “detailed review” of its course.

They said: “The outcome is that for most of our students, the number of additional hours that need completing is either minimal or zero.

“However, a small number of students are impacted more significantly, with the highest number of additional hours required being 126.

“To address this, our teams have developed personalised plans for every student and support is in place to help them complete any additional practice hours required.

“As a result of this work, we are confident that all students who have not had significant absences will complete their practice learning hours by 31 August 2024 and there will be no delay to registration for these students.

“For a minority of students who have already accrued significant absences throughout the course, we will continue to work with them to ensure the required hours are completed ready for course completion and registration.”

The NMC confirmed that it had been working with some universities after quality assurance work undertaken recently, but provided no further comment.