NHS to train thousands of doctors and nurses ‘as apprentices’ to tackle staff shortages

The NHS is set to train thousands of doctors and nurses on the job under plans to tackle staff shortages.

The highly anticipated NHS workforce plan is expected to ramp up the number of medics that are trained via the apprenticeship route significantly, with up to one in 10 doctors and a third of nurses likely to be trained this way over the coming years.

The move comes as the NHS chief executive Amanda Prichard encouraged school-leavers to “earn while they earn” through NHS apprenticeship schemes. She said the plan is a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to put the NHS on a sustainable footing” as she highlighted the 124,000 vacancies across the workforce.

The expansion of NHS apprenticeship schemes will offer an alternative to a traditional university degree and may entice people into a medical career later in life, she said.

Speaking to pupils at the Durham Johnston Comprehensive School last week, Ms Pritchard explained she has “first-hand experience of how rewarding a health service career truly can be”.

She told pupils: “With over 350 different roles available, from nursing to biomedical specialist through to peer support worker, there is a potential profession for everyone. One thing is clear, the NHS is nothing without its staff. That is why with more than 124,000 vacancies across the workforce, we know we need to increase training places in universities so more of our brightest and best can train to become doctors or nurses.

“But university isn’t right for every school-leaver and some young people want to start earning straight away, while others may decide on a career in health care later in life. So the NHS is looking to expand apprenticeship schemes over the coming years, offering a different route into the NHS where students can earn while they learn, instead of going through the university route.”

Ms Pritcahrd said the “radical new approach” could see tens of thousands school-leavers go on to become doctors, nurses, or work in other key healthcare roles, after receiving on the job training over the next 25 years.

She added: “But this move isn’t just something that will benefit school leavers of the future. Young people finishing their A-levels this summer can apply for the first ever medical degree apprenticeship next year. There are already hundreds of other apprenticeship schemes offering a route into the NHS, from pharmacist assistants, ambulance practitioners, through to HR schemes.

“I would urge anyone who is leaving school this year and thinking about what comes next to consider joining the NHS, it has been an incredibly rewarding experience for me in every role I’ve done.

“The upcoming workforce plan is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put the NHS on a sustainable footing. We’ll be setting out what the NHS needs over the coming years for its workforce to thrive, so that there is an NHS career choice that works for everyone now and in the future.”

The expansion of NHS apprenticeship schemes will offer an alternative to a traditional university degree and may entice people into a medical career later in life, she said.

Ms Pritchard was speaking as she toured her old school and met current pupils. The tour was arranged as part of the NHS’s 75th anniversary celebrations, which was marked on 5 July this year.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised the NHS’s long-term workforce plan will be published “shortly” and indicated that the plan would include an expansion of “specialist GPs”.

Speaking during a visit to a GP surgery in Hampshire on Tuesday (9 May), he said: “We want to significantly expand the number of specialist GPs working so the long-term NHS workforce plan will set out our ambitions and how we’re going to deliver that, but they’re already record numbers, we want to go further.”

But Sunak refused to repeat the 2019 Conservative pledge for 6,000 more GPs by 2024. Earlier on Tuesday, health minister Neil O’Brien told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “(Former health secretary) Sajid Javid said several years ago we were not going to be able to hit that 6,000 target because of everything that has gone on and now overall, there are about 37,000 extra doctors working in the NHS, a lot more doctors and a lot more nurses too, about 52,000 extra nurses.”

The NHS’s doctor apprenticeship scheme is due to start in September this year, where medics in training will be able to earn a wage as they study. But the plan has been met with some scepticism, with the British Medical Association (BMA) saying there is still a huge question mark as to whether apprenticeships can solve the NHS crisis.

Dr Latifa Patel, workforce lead for the BMA, said: “Innovative approaches to education and training are welcome but there are huge question marks over how far medical apprenticeships can solve this crisis.

“We don’t know if medical schools and employing organisations are going to be able to produce medical degree programmes to meet individual apprenticeship needs while also meeting the same high standards of training experienced by traditional medical students.

“We have little evidence on whether the apprentice model will work at scale, and whether employers will want to take the investment risk with no guarantee of a return.

“Ultimately the solution the NHS needs is still the same: A dramatic increase in traditional medical school places, postgraduate training pathways, and essential medical academic staff, all fully resourced and without delay.”