• Students studying to become paramedics, radiographers and physiotherapists will be among those to receive the new £5000 annual support payments, DHSC has announced.
• They will be able to take advantage of the funding from September 2020
• There will be further targeted additional funding for mental health and learning disability nursing

Responding to the announcement of new annual support payments for key staff shortage groups, the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, said:

“Workforce is the number one concern for NHS trusts, so it is good to see the government taking steps to attract more recruits into some of the roles and geographical areas where the needs are greatest.

“We are particularly pleased to see the additional financial support for paramedics, and the priority given to mental health and learning disability nursing – all key areas with severe shortages.

“However, while welcome, these measures by themselves won’t solve the immediate staffing pressures.

“Training incentives must be combined with measures to recruit at a greater scale and pace from overseas in the short-term, while maintaining our focus on improving the working lives of hard-working staff in the NHS right now.

“Trusts are looking forward to working with the government to make this happen through the implementation of the NHS people plan in the coming months.”