‘HISTORIC DAY’
Rishi Sunak unveils major plans to reform the NHS – recruiting 300,000 doctors, nurses and staff
RECORD numbers of doctors and nurses will be trained to future-proof the NHS, as part of the "boldest set of changes" to the health service in years.
A £2.4billion pledge was made today by PM Rishi Sunak to try to plug a staffing black hole that would have tripled in size and left the health service short of 360,000 personnel by 2037.
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The “once in a generation” blueprint, a year in the making, will double training places for doctors and nurses and boost GP and dentist numbers.
It will save the NHS £2billion a year on eye-watering wages for agency staff and slash the time it takes to get from the classroom to the ward.
Health chiefs say they can now draft in 60,000 more doctors, 170,000 extra nurses and 71,000 other medics over the next 15 years.
It is a desperate bid to rescue the NHS, with patient satisfaction at rock bottom as they suffer record waiting lists and the worst emergency delays in history.
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Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Mr Sunak said: "I believe in the NHS because it's fundamental to my family.
"My dad was a GP and my mum was a pharmacist. I saw from an early age the difference they made to the community where they lived and worked."
The PM added that the NHS' mission to protect the nation's health will never change, but "what has changed are the challenges facing the NHS".
"Our society is growing older, the burden of illness is changing," he said.
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"Today we’re announcing the most ambitious transformation for NHS staffing in its history.
"We will train twice the number of doctors and an extra 24,000 more nurses a year, helping cut waiting lists and improve patient care.
"And we will do more to retain our brilliant NHS staff and reform the way the health system works to ensure it is fit for the future.
"This is something no other government has done."
He added: "That’s what today’s plan is all about: more nurses, more doctors and better care for all long into the future."
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said "doing nothing was not an option".
She said: "We're not going to do nothing. Instead we’re going to do the boldest set of changes for workforce ever in the history of the NHS."
Speaking at a visit to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge earlier today, the Prime Minister said that people being brought into new roles will be "trained properly and they'll be regulated properly".
Mr Sunak said the General Medical Council (GMC) will bring new roles like physician associates into their remit so that they can prescribe.
He said: "But that's what having a modern workforce is about.
"It's about adapting to how people's health needs to be treated and if you talk to some of the people that I was talking to earlier, they're doing all these new roles.
"We should be modernising the NHS so it's fit for the future.
"Healthcare is evolving and the NHS needs to evolve with it, and that's what the plan does."
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt called the plan an “unprecedented investment”, while Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the "hugely important" plans were "the most radical modernisation and reform" since 1948.
And NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard hailed the “historic day for the NHS”.
But Sir Julian Hartley, of NHS Providers which represents hospitals, said: “The plan’s ambitions are promising but the details will be crucial.”
The NHS currently has 112,000 vacancies — almost half of them for nurses.
Bosses warn this number will treble without action.
The workforce plan will aim to stop staff quitting in their droves and increase the number of new joiners, as well as cutting the time it takes to train.
One in six new staff will be trained on the job through apprenticeships.
And red tape will be slashed so nurses and doctors can start helping patients earlier in their training, getting them into the workforce faster.
'MORE POSITIVE FUTURE'
Half a million new medics will already be in training by 2028, the NHS said.
Medical school places will double to 15,000 per year by 2031, nurse places will double to 24,000 and GP posts will rise 50 per cent to 6,000.
Professor Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard, of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, added: “We know things are very tough for patients and health and care staff right across the UK.
“I hope this plan brings hope with glimpses of a more positive future to all who work in the NHS and the millions of people who rely on it every day.”
Officials said the document will:
- Double medical school training places to 15,000 by 2031, with more places in areas with the greatest shortages of doctors
- Increase the number of GP training places by 50 per cent to 6,000 by 2031
- Almost double the number of adult nurse training places by 2031
- Ramp up apprenticeships so students can "earn while they learn" - it is estimated that one in six (16 per cent) of all training for clinical staff, including doctors, nurses and other health professionals, will be offered through degree apprenticeships by 2028, including 850 doctor apprenticeships
- A 40 per cent rise in nurse associate training places over five years
- New medical schools in parts of the country where there are the greatest staffing shortages
- Increase the number of dentist training places by 40 per cent to 1,133 by 2031
- Reduce the proportion of staff recruited from overseas from around a quarter now to 9 to 10.5 per cent in 15 years
- Ensure 130,000 fewer staff leave the NHS over the same period
It is hoped these plans, which are yet to be seen in full, will help meet challenges of a growing and ageing population while addressing recruitment and retention issues currently leading to severe staff shortages.
Mr Barclay said: "The NHS is the biggest employer in the country and holds the affection of the British people because of the staff who work around the clock to care for us.
"The NHS long-term workforce plan, backed by significant Government investment, shows our determination to support and grow the workforce."
He later added that he hoped the plan will send a "hugely positive" message to current staff, helping to ease pressures and increase capacity so they can spend more time with patients.
Speaking on ITV's GMB, he said: "It is important to retain our staff - it is better to keep the staff we've already trained than to have the delay and time of training more."
NHS medical director Professor Stephen Powis agreed that retention was key.
He told BBC Breakfast: "In there, although it's long term, is a focus on retention because quite rightly, we need to focus on the next few years as well as the next 15 years.
"And so keeping staff in the NHS who might otherwise leave is a really important and quick way of ensuring that we have the workforce we need so we're asking employees to be more flexible in their approach to employment.
"Many people want to be part-time, they want to come out in and out of the NHS as their as their careers develop.
"We want to make it more easy for people to move between organisations.
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"The pensions reform you've seen in the budget earlier this year is certainly encouraging our more senior staff to stay within the NHS.
"And of course, increasing numbers means that there's less than use of agency, there are fewer rota gaps, and that is also really important for the working conditions of staff if wards are fully staffed."
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