Plans to cut mental health courses for NHS workers at the University of East Anglia have been criticised as “short-sighted” and a “dereliction of civic responsibility”.
Staff who teach the programmes – which train cognitive behavioural therapists (CBT), psychological well-being practitioners, and clinical associates in psychology – have been put at risk of redundancy, with 10.9 full-time equivalent roles set to go.
A university spokesperson said the courses, which are run in conjunction with the NHS, have been impacted by?external factors including restructuring within the health service, decreased uptake of NHS commissions for talking therapy programmes and a reduction in employment opportunities for apprentices within the NHS.
However, the University and College Union (UCU) said the plans were “short-sighted”, highlighting that the nearest alternative training sites for those in the region will now be at the University of Essex.
The union cited NHS figures which show that the East of England will require about 150 new psychological well-being practitioner trainees, and 150 new CBT trainees in 2025-26.
Nick Grant, co-chair of the UEA UCU branch, said the plans were “pre-emptive”, but the NHS has indicated it will be looking to grant more commissions for the courses in the “near future”.
The union said staff should be redeployed within other departments, including psychology, in the meantime.
Grant raised concerns that “stretched finances” and the “need not to breach banking covenants” were driving the university’s current financial strategy –?which?led to the departure of more than 400 staff in recent years?– rather than trying to find a solution to best serve its workforce and local community.?
“We’ve got a national mental health crisis; we’ve got assurances from NHS leaders that this is a priority, and that the region needs people trained in these areas. Then we’ve got a university saying, ‘let’s just cut because we’re so close to the bone financially that we can’t sustain it’.”
He said it was a “direct dereliction of the university’s civic and regional responsibilities in particular”, adding that it directly contradicts “the NHS’s mission and its commitment to expand psychological services”.
A spokesperson for the Association of Mental Health Providers told?糖心Vlog?that the planned closures were “deeply concerning” at a time when demand for mental health support continues to grow, and that they “risk undermining national efforts to build capacity and improve access to mental health support”.
The spokesperson outlined that services across the country, particularly in regions such as the East of England, are already experiencing “severe recruitment and retention pressures”, and that “reducing the pipeline of trained practitioners will only deepen existing gaps in provision and place further strain on an already overstretched workforce”.
The UEA spokesperson said?cuts to level 7 apprenticeship funding, which applies to one of the three courses, have also?affected the university’s ability to continue to offer them.?
“Applications for the courses only come from those in appropriate NHS roles, they are not open to self-funded students. Therefore, the continued delivery of the courses is no longer viable,” the spokesperson said.
Students currently on the courses have been informed and “will be supported to complete their studies”, they continued, adding that a consultation with trade unions is currently under way. “Compulsory redundancies will always be a last resort.”
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