- By Darryll Bravenboer, Director of Apprenticeships and Professor of Higher Education and Skills, Middlesex University.
We have all seen the media coverage with packed A&E departments, patients waiting for hours and being treated in corridors. Last week was the busiest for the NHS in England so far this year, with more patients in hospitals than at any other point this winter, and yet without action the situation will get worse.
The NHS currently employs around 1.5 million people, making it the biggest employer in Europe. However, the NHS clinical workforce is not enough to keep pace with demand. The population of England is projected to grow to 61.7 million by mid-2043, and we are living longer which often means more complex illnesses.
There are currently over 112,000 NHS vacancies, the population of England is projected to be 61.7 million by mid-2043, and when combined with demographic changes, a shortfall of between 260,000 and 360,000 health service staff by 2036/37 is predicted by 2036/37.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (2023) has set ambitious clinical workforce commitments with the aim to significantly increase the number of health staff, including doctors, nurses and midwives by 2032.
To achieve this, employers and universities delivering degree apprenticeships need to work together and develop innovative programmes that benefit students, the public sector and ultimately the public.
The University Alliance (UA) represents leading professional and technical universities, educating around 30% of all nursing apprentices in England, plus a substantial number of allied health professionals and healthcare degree apprentices.
Several UA members* have formed the Health Education Consortium to coordinate and expand healthcare degree apprenticeships to meet the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan goals.
By collaborating, we aim to increase the number of apprentice starts, reduce duplication and pool resources, creating a joined-up programme for local, regional and national apprenticeship provision. The Health Education Consortium will work with NHS England to scale operations in partnership with NHS Trusts and Integrated Care Boards, co-designing programmes to meet their needs.
The key benefit for healthcare employers of a higher education collaborative approach is that by working together, we can increase training places while minimising costs.
- A comprehensive degree apprenticeship offer – working on their own individual universities are unlikely to have the resources to meet national employer needs. By joining forces, we can pool our funds and expertise and offer a broader range of healthcare degree apprenticeships to meet NHS requirements.
- Driving innovation: a commitment to share innovative practice is at the heart of the Health Education Consortium and ensures that we work as an innovation engine creating solutions to the growth barriers employers identify.
- Scalability and growth: working together means it is possible to scale up provision to meet the increasing demand outlined in the NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan.
- Towards a one-stop-shop for healthcare education: providing a ‘one-stop-shop’ for NHS, employers save time and money as they do not need to communicate and work with a range of universities.
The benefits outlined above make the case for a more collaborative approach to delivering higher education, which, at the same time, better meets the needs of NHS employers. This aligns with the government’s ambition for greater collaboration to drive efficiency and contribute towards economic growth.
At a time of financial challenge for the higher education sector, the significant growth of degree apprenticeships within the NHS, made possible through effective university collaboration, could address government expectations while contributing to the financial sustainability of providers in the sector.
*Middlesex University, Birmingham City University, Oxford Brookes University, University of Hertfordshire, Kingston University and University of Greenwich.
Hi Darryll – we (LinkedIn Learning for Public Sector and HE) see the challenges of developing digital skills and the human skills that interface with the technologies that staff in the NHS need to utilise to be successful in their career. We are working both with the NHS and with students at the Consortium institutions to develop the in-demand skills for today and the next 5 years. It would be great to share the insights with you and peers in the Consortium to aid planning of the apprenticeships and ensure that the future talent in the NHS are ready for changes such as the impact of AI in the workplace – let me know when we can speak. Ralph Blunden ([email protected])
Collaboration as described is essential. It also provides opportunity to explore additional aspects of successful healthcare provision, including drop out rates and how they might be reduced.
The annual (taxpayer) investment for each healthcare worker is over £10,000. The training is very specific to develop the skills needed for the job and every effort should be made to ensure trained people stay in the sector for as long as possible. The same is true for many public sector jobs including teaching, policing, social work etc and this requires more flexible working and adjustments to work patterns to get the best return on investment.
Fantastic work Darryll! Collaboration is actually the top skill in demand from our, mostly corporate sector, emerging talent recruitment clients. This is a beautiful example of it. Good luck with this. You’ll no doubt need to use your skills in resilience next…