You could make up to £29k a year without a degree in NHS in major change to health service
PEOPLE could now earn as much as £29,000 in the NHS without the need for a degree, in a major shake-up.
School leavers will now be able to start working as doctors without having to spend years at university, under new plans aimed at fixing the growing staff crisis.
The apprenticeship scheme could see one in 10 doctors start work without the need for a medical degree, straight after their A-levels.
Under the “radical new approach,” a third of nurses are also expected to be trained in a similar way.
The significant change is part of a wider NHS workforce strategy after warnings that staff shortages in England could reach half a million if action wasn’t taken to train and recruit health workers.
Head of NHS England, Amanda Pritchard, said: “This radical new approach could see tens of thousands of school-leavers becoming doctors and nurses or other key healthcare roles, after being trained on the job over the next 25 years.”
Currently there are 124,000 health service vacancies in England.
Ms Pritchard said the new plan offered a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to put the NHS on a sustainable footing”.
While pay rates for the new scheme have yet to be announced, junior doctors get a starting salary of around £29,000 having gone through five years of medical school, with annual fees of around £10,000.
Health bosses have said the “medical doctor degree apprenticeship” involves the same training and standards as the traditional education route, including a medical degree and the requirements of the General Medical Council.
Candidates for the scheme will need to have similar A-levels in those for medical school, with qualifications in sciences, as well as options for graduates who have non-medical degrees.
Under the scheme, apprentice medics would be available on the wards almost straight away, working under supervision, while getting paid.
Officials say the exact requirements would be drawn up by universities and employers, with the first apprenticeship due to start this autumn.
The five-year-scheme, which will have 200 places over two years, will see apprentices study while working, allowing them to “put newly acquired knowledge and skills into practice immediately”.
It’s expected existing nursing apprenticeships, where recruits earn on the ward during a four-year training course, will also be expanded.
Fears have been raised in the past that the scheme could create a “two-tier system” with the apprentice degrees viewed as being “lesser”.
The Doctors Association UK has raised concerns that schemes could create hostility between young doctors over clinical placements, if some are being paid for work that others are expected to do for nothing.
Concerns have also been raised that less wealthy candidates could opt for the programme due to fears over student debt, only to find their long-term earnings are overtaken by those on traditional training routes.
Ms Pritchard said: “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.”
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled plans in The Sun for patients to get prescriptions from pharmacies, to relieve the pressure on GPs.
He said: “Backed by £1.2billion of government investment, we are going to transform GP and pharmacy services in England, delivering on my promise to cut NHS waiting lists.
“Under this plan, millions of patients will receive quicker, more convenient access to NHS care from their high street pharmacy, leaving GPs free to help the patients who need them most.
“No longer will you have to wait to see the GP for common conditions like a sore throat, ear ache, shingles or sinusitis.
“For the first time ever, pharmacists will be able to prescribe medicines themselves.”