Amanda Driffield
University of Leeds, UK
Title: Do apprenticeships help to address current workforce challenges
Biography
Biography: Amanda Driffield
Abstract
Abstract: England is facing a nursing workforce crisis with an estimated shortfall of 350,000 staff by 2030, if current trends continue. (Nursing Times 2018). This is due to multiple factors; aging workforce, poor workforce planning and high attrition rates to name a few. This reduction in workforce numbers affects staff morale, deplete NHS budgets through paying for agency staff and most importantly have an adverse effect on the quality of patient care. In 2017 the bursary scheme in the UK to support nursing, midwifery and most allied health students ceased and was replaced by an apprentice levy scheme. All employers with a pay bill over £3 million each year, had to pay into an apprentice levy fund, they then could access these funds to spend on apprenticeship training. Gov.uk 2016. The NHS is one of the largest contributors to the levy fund at around £200 million per year. These funding reforms were made, as one way to help secure the healthcare workforce of the future, by enabling
· Universities to offer up to 10,000 extra training places on pre-registration healthcare programmes.
· Improve access to University study for those from disadvantaged backgrounds
The author will share with you the experiences of delivering a Foundation degree healthcare programme as an apprenticeship, in order to maximise the potential of existing staff through training and education. The benefits to the apprentice will be shared including testimonies and the challenges faced by the employers and education providers.
From April 2017 in the United Kingdom all employers with a pay bill over £3 million each year, had to pay into an apprentice levy fund, they then could access these funds to spend on apprenticeship training. Gov.uk 2016. The NHS is one of the largest contributors to the levy fund at around £200 million per year.
This followed the UK government’s decision to scrap the bursary scheme which
From 1 August 2017, new nursing, midwifery and most allied health students will no longer receive NHS bursaries. Instead, they will have access to the same student loans system as other students.
Why changes to funding have been made
The funding reforms will help to secure the healthcare workforce, by:
· enabling universities to offer up to 10,000 extra training places on pre-registration healthcare programmes
· offering students around 25% more upfront financial support while studying - for example, a single student on a 3-year programme woul receive approximately £2,000 more each year on a student loan compared to an NHS bursary
· improving access to pre-registration undergraduate study for those from disadvantaged backgrounds
giving students with an existing qualification