£30 million is to be invested in postgraduate training courses for doctors, to ensure the NHS has access to skills necessary in managing the patient care backlog from the pandemic. Many postgraduate trainees have postponed their study in order to work on the frontline. This funding will be manifested in a tailored approach, based on the individual needs of trainees, including one-to-one training conversations and recovery plans. As many as 123,800 doctors and over 303,000 nurses are now working in the NHS in England, according to the latest figures, up to February.

The Government committed £7 billion of further funding for healthcare services, including £1 billion to address backlogs from pandemic. £25 million has also been announced for nurse training, expanding virtual lessons for nurses and other healthcare students. A new national critical care qualification for qualified nurses has also been funded to assist those working in ICU wards. Speaking in the House of Commons, Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock stated that this injection of funds into healthcare services brings additional COVID-19 funding to £92 billion.

Professor Sheona MacLeod, Deputy Medical Director of Education Reform at Health Education England, said: “This funding will support trusts in the identification of individualised training needs and in exploring more tailored ways of enabling trainees to catch up on their competencies.”