The government plans to more than halve the number of NHS staff being recruited from abroad in the next 15 years, according to its long term workforce plan.
On Thursday, a preview of the plan announced the intention to funnel £2.4bn into solving the severe staffing crisis in NHS England.
The full document, which was published this morning, said the service aims to train more NHS staff domestically to “reduce reliance on international recruitment and agency staff”.
“In 15 years’ time, we expect around 9-10.5% of our workforce to be recruited from overseas, compared to nearly a quarter now,” the NHS plan said.
Politics latest: ‘Hugely important day for NHS’, minister says
Vacancies currently stand at 112,000, and there are fears shortfalls could grow to 360,000 by 2037.
Shorter medical degrees, apprenticeships so staff can “earn while they learn” and more medical school places in the areas of greatest need were among the headline announcements.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay told Sky News this morning it was “a hugely important day for the NHS”.
But as the Conservatives have now been in power for 13 years, critics – including Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting – have been asking why the party hasn’t acted sooner.
Mr Barclay deflected these questions, telling Sky News “significant work” had already gone on to increase staffing levels.
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Steve Barclay on NHS plans
No mention of pay
And while the plan focuses on retention and training, as waves of strikes continue across the health service, the preview contained no mention of pay.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: “This looks like a bold plan to transform the training of new staff in the NHS. But the devil is in the detail as usual. There is a promise of funding for training for three years, but nothing about money for current staff.
“If there is not enough money to pay NHS staff a decent wage now, and transform current wage structures, then all the aspirations for more staffing in the training plan will fail to address the current crisis in the recruitment and retention of staff. That is what is at the heart of the current staff exodus”.