Responding to a new report from the University Alliance and University of Derby, showing barriers to degree apprenticeships must be removed to meet NHS workforce targets, RCN Executive Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said:
"Health leaders have identified apprenticeships as a means of boosting recruitment into nursing, including for those who cannot afford to take on debt and go to university. However, the findings of this report show the route is failing to help close the gap left by a broken tuition fee model, with trusts lacking the funding to keep up with costs, while limited clinical placements leave NHS England unable to meet its own targets.
"The reality is that in order to recruit the highly skilled nurses we need at scale and speed, the government must deliver new investment in nursing education, in both apprenticeships and traditional degrees. The upcoming 10 Year and workforce plans for the NHS, and the Comprehensive Spending Review, are opportunities to do so. This includes changes to the apprenticeship levy to ensure it covers backfill salaries and therefore the full cost of providing a nursing apprenticeship.”
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Notes to Editors
A new report by the University Alliance and the University of Derby has identified several significant barriers to the expansion of degree apprenticeship routes to deliver the workforce targets as set out in the NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan.
