Nurse lobby may open door to allies

The Council of Deans of Nursing is consulting on plans to include allied health professionals.

The council was set up in 1996 to represent nursing, midwifery and health visiting education.

Eileen Martin, dean of health at the University of Central Lancashire and chair of the council, said: "Most of the recent issues that we have addressed have applied to nurses as well as allied health professionals. The government's multiprofessional agenda makes it imperative that we work together."

The Council of Deans of Nursing has 76 institutional members in the UK, educating 73,000 full-time and about 80,000 part-time students. Allied health professionals have no equivalent body.

Subjects under the allied health umbrella include radiography, physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Common issues include funding of placements to National Health Service partnerships.