Clinical academic funding cuts will hurt NHS, BMA warns

The British Medical Association (BMA) has warned that government funding cuts for medical and dental academics could harm healthcare education, patient care and the “long-term resilience of the NHS”. 

The medical union wrote to education secretary Bridget Phillipson on 9 July following the news that the government is reducing the direct funding it provides to English universities for the second year in a row. 

The money universities receive from the Strategic Priorities Grant, which supports high-cost subjects and other priority areas, is set to fall by £50.9 million in the 2026-27 academic year. 

In July, Phillipson told the Office for Students, which distributes the funding, to no longer allocate money for clinical consultant and senior academic general practitioner pay. 

The BMA said this amounts to a reduction of £16.7 million for medical and dental academics. 

The funding is used by universities to top up the pay of trained healthcare professionals who teach and conduct research at universities, to ensure parity with NHS staff. 

Without government funding, universities may be left to find the extra money themselves at a time when the sector is already struggling financially. 

“Reducing investment in this workforce will have consequences not only for research and innovation, but also for medical education, patient care, the long-term resilience of the NHS and the health of the UK economy,” BMA representatives write in the letter.

The union also says the reduction would “exacerbate” existing problems universities face in recruiting clinical academics, with workforce numbers having fallen significantly in recent years. 

It adds that the cuts are “fundamentally at odds with the government’s stated priorities”, including “the importance of life sciences, research and innovation to economic growth, improved patient outcomes and NHS transformation”. 

“Reducing investment in the very workforce that delivers these ambitions sends a contradictory message and illustrates the need for greater coordination between health, education and science policy,” union representatives write. 

The government has also been criticised for cutting funding for creative courses, despite the creative industries being part of its industrial strategy.

When announcing the plans, education secretary Bridget Phillipson said “difficult decisions” had to be made due to wider economic challenges. 

The BMA continues: “We urge you to reconsider and work across departments to develop a long-term, sustainable approach to supporting medical and dental academics, including appropriate mechanisms for pay-setting and funding to ensure pay parity with NHS counterparts.”

The Department for Education was contacted for comment. 

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com