Revealed: Cardiff nursing lecturers found out about proposed job losses from media reports

Cardiff University nursing lecturers found out about the university’s proposed job losses from the Welsh media.

Last week, it was announced that Cardiff University is set to cut numerous courses and around 400 jobs amid financial cuts.

One of the courses facing potential closure is Cardiff’s nursing programme.

In an email seen by The Cardiff Tab, an unnamed nursing lecturer apologised to students for the university not breaking the news first, saying that academic staff also only heard about the plans from the press.

On the day that the cuts were first announced, students studying nursing received the email from one of their senior lecturers, which spoke about the “devastating news regarding the nursing programme at Cardiff University”.

The email also outlined a few of the reasons that were offered for the programme’s discontinuation, including finances, inconsistent NSS results, poor student placement experiences, and not being able to meet commissioned targets.

The email sent to nursing students

Nursing students received information about the cuts from the Cardiff University Executive Board on Wednesday morning, a day after the press released the news. It said: “Wales needs – and deserves – a top 100 university. To achieve that, we must consider some difficult options for our future.”

The university acknowledged in this email that the news will be “unsettling, and potentially upsetting” for students, but reassured them that they will “still complete the degree [they] have started” if the cuts go ahead. However, the sender added that “how, and where…will be confirmed only after the consultation period has closed and a final decision made.”

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The email also expressed “regret” that students found out about the proposed closure through the media, adding that the “information was leaked despite our best efforts to keep it confidential.”

Students were then sent another email from the university in the evening due to “unhelpful rumours currently circulating in the media” and to “reiterate what is being proposed and what it potentially means.”

This email assured students that they “will complete the nursing programme you have started, and graduate with a degree from Cardiff University” and that in the short term there will be no “immediate impact” on nursing students.

However, despite the emails to reassure the nursing cohort that they will complete their programme and graduate with a Cardiff University degree, students who have spoken to The Cardiff Tab have said they still feel uncertain.

One second year nursing student, Jess, said: “Cardiff’s nursing programme is nothing but supportive and has given a lot to its students, especially as we work under the NHS and its pressures which everyone is aware of.

“The uni has detailed their reasonings due to low student satisfaction but we urge them to recognise that this is not at the fault of the programme but rather treatment we receive out on placement.”

Another second year student, who wished not to be named, added: “With the recent news that has come to light it has made us as a nursing students worry about our future and what is to come. The fact it came from the media and not from the university is what has concerned us the most, we felt blindsided and it came as a great shock to us.”

They further expressed that the emails sent to students by the university have not provided “very clear answers” for them and that they seem “ominous and some what misleading, which has led to distress for us all in what is already a stressful time.”

Other students from the programme have expressed similar worries, with one saying: “There’s a lot of uncertainty going around right now for everyone. It’s sad to see how heartbroken the lecturers are knowing the programme they’ve worked so hard on could be gone and they’ll have no job.”

Another added: “Everyone knows that the NHS is already struggling as it is…considering cutting the [nursing] programme is unfathomable. We have hopes that Cardiff University chooses instead to look at this from a humanity perspective rather than just focusing on financial gain.”

Cardiff’s nursing school via Google Maps

A Cardiff University spokesperson told The Cardiff Tab: “It’s important to stress that these are proposals and there is still a great deal of detail to work through before any final decisions are made. In the short term there will be no immediate impact on nursing students or their ability to complete their studies.

“We are committed to delivering Nursing degree programmes to the students starting in 2025. We are acutely aware of our role in delivering the next generation of healthcare professionals for Wales and beyond and are actively consulting with all stakeholders on our proposals. For the avoidance of doubt, we will continue to offer Midwifery at Cardiff.”