HEFCE's role in funding healthcare
HEFCE funds a wide range of health-related training and education. In 2009-10 HEFCE is spending over £360 million on 32,393 undergraduate medical and dental FTE places. This equates to 7.8 per cent of the total 2009-10 recurrent teaching grant (including the efficiency saving). Aside from medicine and dentistry, HEFCE funds health-related subjects such as post-registration nursing, subjects allied to medicine, and pharmacy. In addition, a large number of healthcare foundation degrees have been introduced, creating employment pathways into the NHS, and modernising health education and training. For more information on healthcare foundation degrees visit the Department of Health's web-site.
Funding medical and dental education and training
Undergraduate medical and dental training takes place in university medical and dental schools. It is jointly funded by HEFCE and the NHS. HEFCE's funding is in the form of a grant allocated as part of the annual recurrent grant to each university. Recurrent teaching funds for medical and dental training amount to approximately £300 million each year. The grants are calculated according to the number of medical and dental students in each medical and dental school. In 2009-10 the resource for each medical and dental student is £15,788 per year from year two for dentistry and year three for medicine, and £6,709.90 per year for the first years (these figures exclude the efficiency saving).
The NHS funds clinical teaching for undergraduate medical and dental students through a levy charged to local health authorities called the Service Increment For Teaching (SIFT). Around £550 million of SIFT is allocated each year. SIFT is designed to compensate teaching hospitals for the cost of teaching undergraduate medical and dental students
SIFT is part of the Multi Professional Education and Training budget (MPET) which was created in 2001 by the merger of the Non-Medical Education and Training Budget, the Medical and Dental Education Levy, and the Service Increment for Teaching - all of which continue as separate elements.
'Knock-for-knock'
To avoid unnecessary transfers of funding between university medical schools and their NHS partners, the 'knock-for-knock' principle is used. University medical schools need access to patients and clinical activity to carry out teaching and research. That in turn means the university has to recruit academic staff who are practising clinicians, who, in the course of their duties, provide a valuable service to the NHS. The additional benefits derived by the NHS have traditionally been recognised by measured funding from NHS bodies, formerly the Regional Health Authorities and, more recently, Hospital Trusts. NHS consultants in turn teach undergraduate students as part of the exchange of activity between hospitals and medical schools.
Nursing, midwifery and allied health professions training
Training for nursing, midwifery and allied health professions is funded on a contract basis by Strategic Health Authorities and is delivered by a range of universities and colleges, not just those with medical schools.
Allied health professions include: physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, chiropodists/podiatrists, dieticians, prosthetists and orthotists, art, drama and music therapists (arts therapists), radiographers (diagnostic and therapeutic), orthoptists and paramedics.
HEFCE works with the Department of Health to support and monitor progress in research in nursing and allied health professions.
Last updated 5 February 2010