More than 7,500 former nurses and midwives have answered the NHS’s rallying cry and returned to work to help battle the coronavirus pandemic.
The huge response comes just seven days after the nursing regulator posted letters to thousands of nurses who had either retired or changed roles within the last three years.
More than 6,000 pharmacists and pharmacist technicians and hundreds of doctors have also re-registered as the NHS faces one of the biggest challenges in its history.
The huge response comes just seven days after the nursing regulator sent out the rallying cry to thousands. Pictured above is a nurse in Liverpool yesterday
The UK saw its biggest single day jump in confirmed coronavirus cases today
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has called on 50,000 former nurses to return to work.
Those that answered the plea have been placed on its Covid-19 temporary register, which enables them to practice during an emergency. Their details are being shared with health and care organisations across all four countries in the UK.
‘We’re living in the most extraordinary of times,’ said the NMC’s chief executive and registrar, Andrea Sutcliffe.
‘To see thousands of former nursing and midwifery professionals make the decision so quickly to sign up to our temporary emergency register and join the Covid-19 response is simply incredible.
‘To former nurses and midwives who left their professions within the last three years who haven’t already applied to join the NMC Covid-19 temporary register but would like to, it’s not too late. We need you.
‘We know it’s a huge ask, but by offering to return to work in this hour of need, I know what a massive difference your expertise and experience will bring for everyone working in and receiving care in the NHS, in communities, in nursing homes and across the country during the challenging weeks and months ahead.
‘To our returners – and to the 700,000 nurses, midwives and nursing associates who are already playing an essential and much-valued part in this pandemic – you are the heartbeat of our health and care system. Thank you.’
AN NHS nurse pictured doing a home visit in Sefton Park, Liverpool, yesterday
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced today that he has also tested positive for the virus
Doctors and pharmacists have also been flocking to re-register after receiving the rallying cry.
The General Medical Council – which operates the register of doctors working in Britain – last week wrote to 15,000 medics who have left the profession in the last three years.
They were informed they would automatically be temporarily re-registered unless they opted out.
The GMC said that some doctors opted out and the remaining 11,856 have now been granted temporary registration.
Additionally, the General Pharmaceutical Council said it had given temporary registration to 3,332 pharmacists and 2,909 pharmacy technicians who had left the register in the last three years.
A call for NHS volunteers has also seen more than 700,000 people sign up, offering their time to help health services by calling vulnerable people in their community, giving discharged patients lifts or ferrying medicines between hospitals.
The NHS has started setting up makeshift hospitals to deal with the virus. Above is London’s Excel centre, which has been converted into a 4,000-bed hospital
Beds pictured arriving at the NHS Nightingale hospital in London’s Excel centre
Pharmacists have also flocked to rejoin the profession, with more than 6,000 signing up following the rallying cry for help for the NHS
The UK recorded its biggest single day spike in confirmed cases today, as the figure jumped by 2,885 to 14,579 infections.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock have both tested positive for the virus and chief medical officer Chris Witty is in isolation, prompting fears over who will manage the UK’s coronavirus response.
The 55-year-old prime minister has said he is only suffering from mild symptoms of a high temperature and persistent cough. He has self-isolated in his flat above number 11 Downing street.
The UK has been stepping up its response to the outbreak, with the NHS expanding its coronavirus testing capacity and plans being laid out for emergency hospitals across the country to handle patients.
The Excel centre in London is being turned into a 4,000-bed hospital. The government has also announced plans to convert an aircraft hanger in Birmingham into a hospital.