The Government’s ambitious plans to strengthen the NHS can only be achieved if significant changes are made to healthcare education and training now, warns Universities UK (UUK).
- With 112,000 vacancies across the health workforce, a five-point plan for healthcare education and training proposed to turn ambitions into reality
- NHS workforce plan aims to ramp up training, double medical school spots and increase nursing and midwifery training places by 80%
- With political consensus on the need to increase number of healthcare professionals, this is a now or never moment to protect the NHS
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) was published by the UK Government in June this year, with the aim of addressing NHS staffing shortages across three key pillars: train, retain and reform. With opposition parties also signalling a commitment to invest in healthcare professionals over the coming years, now is a pivotal moment to secure the future of the NHS in England. Concern about the NHS is now the public’s second biggest worry according to recent Ipsos research, while research also shows people’s top priorities for the health service are expanding and supporting the NHS workforce.
