Colleges are a key education and training route for key workers in the health and care sector. Yet we know there is a lack of systemic focus on colleges across England from NHS organisations that prevents us from doing more.
As Europe’s biggest employer and a significant contributor to the apprenticeship levy, the relationship between colleges and the NHS is one that is vital to get right. If we are to support the growth of the workforce at this critical time, then this unique partnership must be reset - and in a sustainable way that addresses population health and local jobs.
NHS leaders face significant workforce challenges, and that is only more prominent in light of Covid-19 as it prepares for winter and the possibility of a second peak. Not only has it increased pressure, but it has focused minds on the breadth of recruitment challenges across a whole host of roles, with around 90,000 vacancies in England.
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The NHS People Plan
The NHS People Plan published in July sets out how all local People Plans should be developed. There’s no better place to start than by embedding the role of colleges as a partner for recruitment, training and upskilling. Colleges are not simply a stepping stone to university: we support local people into a broad range of health and care roles that the NHS often struggles to recruit in, from healthcare assistants to lab technicians and IT professionals. Colleges are also crucial public health partners, supporting mental health among other key priorities.
In Lancashire, for example, the NHS is the largest employer, offering a huge range of roles at all levels and disciplines. The relationship between colleges and the NHS is central to providing the workforce they need and the opportunities into work for adults and young people alike.
That’s why the Independent Commission on the College of the Future and NHS Confederation have been exploring the role of colleges in supporting the NHS workforce.
There are already examples of excellent partnerships, but it became clear in our conversations with both sectors that if we are to untap the potential of colleges for NHS then we have to restate the case for colleges and renew our relationship. Historic barriers must be overcome: from a lack of understanding about the language and acronyms to siloed and ineffective working and lack of clarity about decision-makers across both sectors. The bias towards working with universities in NHS organisations has not helped, nor has unstable funding of English colleges and the current competitive system we operate in.
Establishing a strong voice for colleges
The recommendations set out in the report published today will support new partnerships between English colleges, the NHS and the wider education system to deliver pathways for recruiting, training and upskilling for health and care roles.
The timing of this report could not be more critical. Local economies across England are focusing on jobs, and colleges are an important piece of the skills puzzle to support millions of people to retrain and reskill. This is about both workforce and the population health of our communities, with both college and the NHS playing key roles in the UK government’s “levelling-up” agenda. That is why the vision for colleges of the future that the Commission recently launched centred around what they will deliver for people, productivity and place.
During the Covid-19 crisis, we have seen colleges and the NHS work together in new ways on volunteering and manufacturing personal protective equipment (PPE). Now we have to build these relationships by enshrining the role of colleges in the delivery of the NHS People Plan, facilitating the strategic relationships needed to sustain action through employer hubs, and establishing a strong voice for colleges in the health and care sector.
Amanda Melton is chief executive of Nelson and Colne College and commissioner on the College Commission of the Future.
