Adult Social Care Nursing News

This page will be updated periodically with news related to Adult Social Care Nursing. If you have some important news to share, please let us know.

January 2026

• Skills for Care have published a joint position statement on adult social care’s contribution to the Neighbourhood Health Service in England. The statement, published on behalf of organisations from across adult social care, health and education who came together to develop the Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care in England, outlines how adult social care can help bring the government’s vision for the Neighbourhood Health Service to life.

November 2025

• Council of Deans Social Care Network Newsletter for students and early career nurses (November 2025)
• Care home nurses unable to take breaks and working while sick, RCN reveals
• A further 5 ICBs have been selected to be part of the Nurse Prescribing Pilot. Joining BLMK, as mentioned below, are: Cheshire and Merseyside in collaboration with Greater Manchester, Lancashire and South Cumbria; Coventry and Warwickshire; Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland; Nottingham and Nottinghamshire in collaboration with Derby and Derbyshire; and South Yorkshire.
• It is expected that approximately 110 nurses will undertake an NMC-approved prescribing qualification across 4 regions. These ICBs are now working with care providers and HEIs in their ICSs to enrol nurses onto the courses.
• The pilot aims to understand the impact of upskilling more adult social care nurses and empower nurses to prescribe medicines to people, as part of the government’s major shift to bring care into the community and boost the nursing profession.  If successful, the pilot could pave the way for more social care nurses across the country to be offered the qualification. Chief Nurse for Social Care Deb Sturdy has published a blog relating to the pilot.

October 2025

• Skills for Care’s ‘the state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England 2025’ report includes information about adult social care employment, recruitment and retention, workforce demographics, pay, workforce projections, and much more.
• Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes (BLMK) ICB has successfully bid to be part of the Nurse Prescribing Pilot. This means BLMKICB can fund 20 ASC Nurses to study the Independent Prescribing programme starting in January 2026.