The NHS will miss out on recruiting thousands of nurses each year as a direct result of the Government’s scrapping of BTec courses in health and social care, hospital bosses have warned.
NHS Employers wrote in a letter to Education Secretary James Cleverley that it has “serious concerns” about the plan, which it fears will exacerbate the health service’s acute staffing problems.
BTecs are long-established qualifications that help young people find work as support workers in nursing, midwifery or allied health professions. Some of them later train to become fully qualified nurses, midwives, radiographers or occupational therapists.
NHS employers are particularly concerned that the removal of BTECs in 2024 and 2025, as part of the move to new T-level qualifications in the post-16 education overhaul, will harm NHS England’s efforts to recruit enough medical nurses to help fill the nearly 40,000 vacancies there are for them.
Danny Mortimer, the organisation’s chief executive, told Cleverly in his letter that around a fifth of those studying to become nurses have completed a health and social care BTec. In 2017, for example, 7,120 nursing trainees have already obtained this qualification – 20% of the total. This was more than the 5,947 who went on to a degree after completing A-levels. “This shows that the course provides an effective route into nursing education for a significant number of people,” he said.
In separate remarks, Mortimer said: “Abolishing these important BTec courses in health and social care is an incredibly short-sighted decision by the Government.
“At a time when the NHS is already extremely understaffed and has 105,000 vacancies, depriving the health service of a pool of new nurses, midwives and other health workers is both reckless and ill-advised and could leave the NHS as well our colleagues in social care, with several thousand more vacancies in the coming years.’
More than 100 NHS organizations from across England believe ministers “should not stop offering this course, which nurtures and supports people with an interest in health and social care, at this time”, the letter said.
Around 30,000 people are currently taking a bachelor’s degree in health and social care, of which just under half are in full-time study.
The Royal College of Nursing called on Cleverly to have an “urgent rethink” of the plan. Its implementation was delayed after MPs and peers from different parties, as well as college bosses, criticized it.
Dr Nicola Ashby, RCN deputy director of nursing education, research and ethics, said: “This is yet another example of the government making it harder, not easier, to enter nursing in England . There is a workforce crisis and every nurse candidate is needed to safely care for patients.
“BTec Health and Social Care courses … offer an opportunity for low-income and mature students who might otherwise be denied.”
The Department for Education has defended replacing BTecs with T Levels. “It is vital that qualifications meet the needs of employers and support more people to work with higher skills and higher pay,” a spokesman said.
“Our health T-level has been created in partnership with employers, including the NHS, so that students gain the skills and experience needed to start roles in the health sector and progress to university and further study. We will continue to fund BTecs and other qualifications in the future when there is a clear need for them so that young people can access high-quality opportunities.”
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