During such a challenging economic time, we welcome the DHSC settlement which provides further investment in the NHS workforce.

There is no doubt that this week’s Spending Review has taken place in unique circumstances with NHS staff, including in HEE where we managed over 40,000 learners into our hospitals and surgeries, responding brilliantly to the Pandemic.

During such a challenging economic time, we welcome the DHSC settlement which provides further investment in the NHS workforce. This includes £260 million for Health Education England to continue to grow our NHS workforce and support commitments made in the NHS Long Term Plan. It will mean that we can continue our investment for 2021/22 in record numbers of medical, nursing and AHP students as well as doctors in training, including record numbers of GP trainees for the third consecutive year. HEE is currently supporting around 180,000 learners for a future career in the NHS.

HEE’s focus now is to support the vaccination programme in the immediate term and ensure the professionals the NHS needs for patients and citizens continue to be educated and trained for the longer term.

We will be working closely with partners in NHS England and NHS Improvement, the Department of Health and Social Care, the voluntary sector, Royal Colleges, Universities and NHS Providers to ensure shared approaches to meet further priorities in the mental health, cancer, diagnostic, primary care, pharmacy and nursing workforces, including the Government’s commitment to 50,000 more nurses.

Improvements in these priority areas will require that the workforce needs are planned, recruited, educated, and trained by HEE for the whole of the NHS. Without education and training we won’t have a workforce to make improvements in services and care that patients need.

We all now have an important responsibility to work closely with partners to ensure the money allocated for health and care is spent most wisely where it’s most needed.

Best Wishes

Navina

Dr Navina Evans

Chief Executive

Health Education England