SCOTLAND’S NHS has been given £27 million to boost the number of doctors, nurses and midwives.
The First Minister set out measures aimed at increasing access to education in the medical professions over the next five years during a speech at Queen Margaret University in Musselburgh, East Lothian yesterday.
These include funding of £3m to train an extra 500 advanced nurse practitioners and more than £23m to increase the number of medical school places.
Alongside this will be a new entry-level programme for students from deprived backgrounds and a Scottish graduate entry programme in medicine that will offer to pay fees for students who work in the Scottish NHS after qualifying.
Nicola Sturgeon also announced a £1m support fund for nursery and midwifery students experiencing financial difficulties as well as committing to the continuation of bursaries for nurses and midwives.
She said the investment in the workforce was crucial to ensure the health service was fit to cope with the pressures it is under and successfully deliver the integration of health and social care. Sturgeon said: “We need to make sure that we are training the right numbers of professionals – in and across different specialities – with the skills they need for the health service of the future.
“That’s why this additional funding of £27m is so crucial in ensuring in ensuring the NHS in Scotland remains robust, resilient and ready for the challenges of the 21st century.
“We’ve already invested heavily in the health and care workforce in the last nine years. For example, the NHS Scotland workforce has increased by more than 10,000 since 2007. But we need to build on that success.
“That’s why we will step up our support for nurses and midwives. The Scottish Government is completely committed to retaining a nursing and midwifery bursary.”
Sturgeon said that in the coming year, she will introduce a discretionary hardship fund for nursing and midwifery students to provide additional support for those who need it most.
She added: “At present only one in 20 new doctors comes from the most disadvantaged areas of our country. If we had truly equal access to the medical profession, that figure would be one in five. That’s not a reflection on the talent or aptitude of students from disadvantaged areas, it’s an indication of how disadvantage acts as a barrier to equal opportunity.
“That’s bad for those individuals who are denied a fair chance to enter a good career. And it’s also bad for society as a whole – we lose out on too many of the talented and dedicated medics of the future.”
Dr Peter Bennie, chairman of BMA Scotland, welcomed Sturgeon’s announcement of extra funding.
However, he said: “We would want to see additional investment made to ensure that on completion of their course, training places are available for these additional graduates to encourage them to stay and work in Scotland.
“The BMA strongly believes that the medical profession should be reflective of the diverse population that it serves. However, evidence shows that we are far from achieving this aim.
“Academic merit and aptitude must remain crucial for entry to medical school, but socio-economic background and schooling opportunities should not be a barrier. If students from the lowest-income households are to be encouraged into higher education, then it needs to be affordable and the support available must ensure students can meet their day-to-day living costs. We look forward to hearing further detail of how the Scottish Government plans to invest in encouraging and supporting medical students from deprived backgrounds.”
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