With the latest UCAS data showing applications are down for medicine, nursing and midwifery courses, leaders from the higher education sector are calling for a new taskforce to effectively deliver NHS England’s Long-Term Workforce Plan.
In a jointly-written letter sent to the Secretaries of State for Education and Health, a coalition of university mission groups and educators have called on the government to convene a new ministerial taskforce to ensure greater collaboration between relevant government departments, the NHS, and healthcare educators on the ground. The letter was co-written and signed by the chief executives of University Alliance, the Russell Group, Million Plus, GuildHE and London Higher, as well as the Council of Deans of Health.
Citing the Covid-19 pandemic as an example of universities working effectively with the NHS and government in response to national health challenges, the letter argues ‘a similar unified effort is needed to secure the long-term clinical-skills pipeline.’
While commending the ‘significant progress’ made by the government so far, the leaders argue ‘there is considerably more to do to realise the ambitious long-term goals of the plan, and to secure the workforce required to meet the healthcare needs of a growing, ageing population’ – with universities’ teaching and research capabilities playing a vital role.
