Harley's Story

In this episode of Blocked Britain, we meet Harley, 26, from Bicester and Woodstock in the South East. Despite living in one of England's least deprived areas, Harley's path into NHS healthcare has been blocked by central government workforce planning failures. Health Education England's training budgets were capped by HM Treasury spending limits that treat public investment as a cost to minimise, rather than the mechanism by which qualified nurses and doctors reach understaffed wards. The training capacity existed, people ready to fill places existed, but Westminster chose to limit funding as though the government that issues the pound could run out of pounds. Harley's story reveals how even in prosperous constituencies, Treasury ideology blocks essential public service careers. Disclosure: This episode contains discussion of government spending policy and public service funding.