HEALTH bosses are to be given access to a £9 million cash pot to recruit NHS staff from working-class backgrounds.

And Wiltshire has been chosen to spearhead one of nine country-wide schemes.

The Government under pressure to improve the NHS is anxious to make the profession representative of modern society.

Often, intellectually gifted youngsters from less affluent backgrounds shun medicine because of the stereotypical middle-class tag attached to the profession.

So from September students from less affluent backgrounds can apply to have their tuition paid for by the Department for Health.

The scheme, dubbed Opening Doors: The Key to Healthcare Professions, plans to raise aware-ness and widen access for people who would not normally consider entering the healthcare pro-fessions.

Students from some of the roughest neighbourhoods in the country will be targeted and encouraged to realise their career dream.

Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic Health Authority will focus primarily on tempting people to enter the fields of radiotherapy, diagnostic imaging and biomedicine.

Rosemary Grant, director of Education Commissioning for the health authority, welcomed the idea.

She said: "This drive is so important for the NHS and for our local community.

"Not only does it provide more opportunities for our loyal NHS staff, but it also enables the health service to develop its workforce from a wider range of people from our community."

Research shows that 74 per cent of the medical school population come from the highest three social classes.

Yet just 38 per cent of the work-ing age population is from this background.

Chris Osman, acting associate director of Human Resources at Swindon's Great Western Hospital, said students who are up to the job should be given every assistance to reach the top.

"We welcome any initiative which widens the opportunities for careers in healthcare," he said.

"We are already providing a number of opportunities for career development, including the Widening Access scheme which enables employees to access nurse degree courses.

"We also provide opportunities for NVQ qualifications and have a successful Return to Practice scheme.

"We will continue to work with our education providers and local schools to encourage students to think about a career with the NHS."

Earlier this week, Health Minister, John Hutton, said: "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.

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

Kevin Shoesmith