NHS recruitment drive targets the 'under-privileged'

A new drive to recruit more NHS doctors, nurses and allied health professionals from underprivileged and under-represented backgrounds has been launched today.

Nine nationwide schemes, which have been given £9 million funding by the health department and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) over five years, will look at ways of encouraging a wider range of young people to train in the healthcare professions.

Asian ethnic groups are under-represented in applicants to nursing courses, and there is evidence that black and ethnic minority applicants have difficulty in securing course places, the government said.

UCAS research has also shown that three-quarters of the medical school population come from the highest three social classes – although just 38% of the working age population is from this background.

Health minister John Hutton said today that the department would meet the full cost of variable tuition fees for medical and dental students in years 5 and 6 of the standard undergraduate courses, and years 2, 3 and 4 of fast-track courses. This brings them in line with nurses and other health professionals, he said.

"It is vital that the NHS not only improves the health of all sections of the community, but also accurately reflects that community in the people it employs. We need more doctors, nurses and AHPs and we need them from all walks of life. It is unacceptable that some people are effectively held back from these professions because of their financial, social or cultural background," Mr Hutton added.

John Rushforth, HEFCE's Director of Widening Participation, said it was "essential" that the opportunity to enter higher education for the healthcare professions was "open to anyone who has the potential to succeed, regardless of their background".

"I am particularly pleased that we have been able to work so effectively with the Department of Health, integrating their needs into an existing scheme thereby avoiding the need for additional bureaucratic burden on the institutions involved," he said.

(gmcg)