Editorial: Nursing education in the United Kingdom – clocks forward or clocks backward?

Abstract

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) in 2010 gained a new government, and we wonder what the future for nursing will be. After a battle between the major parties – Labour, the Conservative Party (known as the 'Tories') and the Liberal Democrats (the 'LibDems'), a hung parliament ensued, with no party holding enough seats to take power in its own right; the LibDems held the balance of power and were wooed by both sides. The result was a completely new government, with the Tories the major party (with Prime Minister David Cameron) supported by the Liberal Democrats, with their leader, Nick Clegg, taking the deputy prime minister position. Most media pundits saw this as a result that had to happen, that the Labour Party under, first, Tony Blair and, latterly, Gordon Brown had lost its way and had not managed to protect the country from the effects of the recent global financial crisis. Because the country has switched from a left wing Labour government to a right wing (though perhaps modulated by the liberal policies of the LibDems) conservative government, changes are expected to affect all aspects of British life. This, of course, must include the National Health Service (NHS), and nursing within that. Because of the belt tightening necessitated by the global financial crisis, the NHS as one of the largest and most expensive organisations in the world must expect an overhaul.