£2.1m Invested In Health Service Education And Training

Funding of £2.1 million is to be invested in education and training to boost the health service workforce, Health Minister Robin Swann has announced.

The package includes 1,335 nursing and midwifery university places for 2022/23, as well as additional medical specialty and Allied Health Profession (AHP) training posts.

The Minister said: "I am very pleased to make this announcement and to be able to confirm, on International Nurses Day, the 1,335 total for pre-registration nursing and midwifery training places - the highest annual number we have ever commissioned.

"Nursing and midwifery university places were maintained at a record high total of 1,325 in the past two years. This year, despite ongoing budgetary pressures and uncertainty, we are able to maintain that figure and indeed increase it by another 10.

"To put this into context, the total in 2015/16 was 710, which means it has increased by 88% since then.

"This represents a vital investment in the nursing and midwifery workforce of tomorrow.

"As we mark International Nurses Day, we are very grateful for the amazing contribution they make every day and are very aware of the current pressures they face.

"Sustained investment in education and training is essential to the rebuilding of our health and social care system."

The £2.1m education and training package announced by the Health Minister includes expansion of medical specialty training posts, and an additional 41 Allied Health Profession (AHP) training posts this year. In addition, a further 44 nurses will be recruited under the International Nurse Recruitment Programme.

The £2.1m package will be funded through re-purposing of existing education and training budget lines.

The expansion in medical training programmes includes specialties identified as critical to delivering priority service commitments. They include two additional Clinical Oncology places, three Medical Oncology places, two Radiology places and one Paediatric Cardiology place. Two additional places are also being provided in Vascular Surgery, and one each in Transplant Surgery, Palliative Medicine and Dermatology.

Also included in today's announcement are 10 additional training places on the Diagnostic Radiography training programme commissioned from Ulster University as well as investment in Medical Physics with the training of three Clinical Scientists and Technologists.

The other AHP training expansion for 2022 comprises 10 places in Physiotherapy, 10 Occupational Therapy; three Podiatry, five Speech and Language Therapy, and three Dietetics.

In addition, funding will be provided by the Department and Health and Social Care Trusts, on a 50:50 basis, to make up to 50 additional places available in the intake to the Northern Ireland Medical Foundation Programme in 2022/23. This is the first step in our intention  to grow this programme over the coming years to further boost NI's medical workforce and increase the availability of junior doctors in our health service.