The role of universities and other organisations that train medical workers risks being neglected as the government develops its plans for the NHS, sector leaders fear.

A “somewhat narrow focus” of a recent call for evidence from the government to support its 10-year plan for the future of the health service’s workforce has prompted various organisations including the Russell Group, Universities UK and the Council of Deans of Health to write to health secretary Wes Streeting and health minister Karin Smyth.

The call “did not lend itself to responses addressing the education, training and research contributions to the future health workforce”, the letter says.

“Education, training and research are integral elements of workforce planning, and it is imperative that this is recognised as the plan develops,” it adds.

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“Embedding higher education fully within the plan will help secure a reliable flow of well-trained, highly skilled professionals to meet future demand across the breadth of health and care roles.”

Labour is devising a new workforce plan after releasing its vision for the next decade of the NHS earlier this year.

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This comes after the party decided to revisit a previous strategy devised by the former Tory government that set out ambitions to open up 15,000 extra medical school places by 2031.

Little has been revealed about what new vision Labour will put forward, although its wider NHS strategy put a much greater focus on widening access to medical education.

Universities are “committed to widening participation to the healthcare professions and are actively addressing geographical disparities in application numbers from young people”, the letter, also co-authored by GuildHE, London Higher, the Medical Schools Council, Dental Schools Council, Pharmacy Schools Council, MillionPlus and University Alliance, says.

“By working closely with the NHS, we can help ensure the current and future workforce is fully equipped to deliver care in new settings, harness technology effectively, and promote health and well-being at every stage.”

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OECD figures highlighted by the organisations show that “the UK’s medical training has fallen behind other nations, despite increasing demand on public health services”.

The UK currently only trains 13 medical graduates per 100,000 of the population, less than half the number in top OECD countries.

“There is no way that NHS workforce plans can succeed without the input of universities, so government needs to be consulting education and training experts from the very start,” saidRussell Group chief executive Tim Bradshaw.

“In recent years the pipeline of newly trained healthcare professionals has not kept up with demand for NHS services – so removing the barriers to training expansion, and robustly funding universities to deliver this education, will be vital to cutting waiting lists and improving patient care.”

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tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com