John Hutton

John Hutton has unveiled plans to encourage more people from poorer and ethnic minority backgrounds to study medicine and nursing.

The health minister announced £9 million of funding for nine new pilot schemes on Tuesday.

The government wants to reverse a poor record of diversity in applications.

Research has shown that three quarters of medical students come from the three highest social classes, compared to 38 per cent of the total working population.

Ministers also want to attract more nurses from Asian ethnic groups and doctors from black and other minority groups.

The regional pilots will collaborate with the Higher Education Funding Council for England and Department for Education and Skills, which are trying to widen participation in university courses across the social spectrum, in raising awareness of healthcare as a career.

Hutton also announced that his department will pick up the bill for the variable tuition fees of medical and dental students in the years beyond the typical length of degree courses.

Access

Professions such as medicine, dentistry and law are likely to incur some of the highest course costs when the new top-up fee regime comes into effect in 2006.

Many Labour MPs are concerned that school-leavers from the lowest socio-economic groups would be deterred by the expense of these qualifications and opt for cheaper degrees.

The government has been forced to offer assurances that it will monitor access and enforce selection on merit.

Hutton said the latest reforms would improve public confidence in the NHS and opportunities within it.

"It is vital that the NHS not only improves the health of all sections of the community, but also accurately reflects that community in the people it employs," he said.

"We need more doctors, nurses and associate health professionals and we need them from all walks of life.

"It is unacceptable that some people are effectively held back from these professions because of their financial, social or cultural background.

"These projects and the department's commitment to meet medical and dental students' tuition fees will open doors to young people from low-income backgrounds who would previously never have thoughts about a career in the NHS."

However Liberal Democrat education spokesman Phil Willis said the government has created the problem in the first place.

"Fees equal debt and debt will deter many students from going to university," he said.

"For years Labour has ignored the evidence and burdened students with mortgage-style debts. Now ministers are forced to admit that they cannot recruit enough young people to become doctors.

"This is a classic piece of Labour spin. The government is pretending to solve a problem that it has created in the first place.

"It is absurd that Labour now expects applause for freeing students from Labour fees."