Catalogue description Records of the Joint Board of Clinical Nursing Studies

The Joint Board of Clinical Nursing Studies owed its establishment to a report titled "The Post-Certificate Training and Education of Nurses" issued in 1966 by the Standing Nursing Advisory Committee of the Central Health Services Council, and to subsequent consultations with the nursing and medical professions. The report drew attention to the unsatisfactory nature of many of the courses available at the time.

The Joint Board was set up in March 1970 by the Secretary of State for Social Services and the Secretary of State for Wales with the following terms of reference: 'To consider and advise on the needs of nurses and midwives for post-certificate clinical training in specialised departments of the hospital service in England and Wales and to co-ordinate and supervise the courses provided as a result of such advice'. Prior to the reorganisation of the National Health Service in 1974 the remit was widened to include community nurses.

The Joint Board's activities included:

• a) identifying the clinical specialities in which courses were needed
• b) estimating the number of courses required in each speciality
• c) preparing outline curricula and revising them as necessary
• d) co-ordinating the planning and provision of courses
• e) defining conditions to be met by those seeking approval of courses
• f) approving and monitoring of courses
• g) successfully completing approved courses
• h) assisting the staff of centres offering courses to acquire the appropriate teaching and organisational skills

The chairman and members of the Joint Board were appointed by the secretaries of state. The members included representatives of the nursing, midwifery and medical professions, some of whom were nominated by the appropriate Royal Colleges and some by the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS). At least half of the members were nurses and midwives and most of the remainder were doctors.

Initially the Joint Board was funded jointly by the King Edward VII Hospital Fund for London, the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust and the DHSS. After three years the DHSS assumed full financial responsibility.

The Joint Board was dissolved in 1983 by the implementations of the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1979.