NHS workforce plan review

Join Andy and Gandhi as they review the long-awaited NHS Workforce plan which sets out the NHS plans for the next 15 years. Is it any good? Find out with us....
www.england.nh...
Published 29 June 2023
Commissioned and accepted by the government
Costed plan
Addresses how NHS will meet workforce challenges, 15 years, £2.4bn
The problem is significant
Staffing shortfalls have been a long-standing issue and NHS vacancies now stand at 112,000
The plan’s modelling estimates that vacancies would rise to 360,000 by 2037 if no action is taken
Priority areas:
Train - increase numbers of staff
Retain - 130,000
Reform - Work differently and modernise
Headline features
doubling medical school training places to 15,000 by 2031/32, with more places in areas with the greatest shortages
increasing the number of GP training places by 50 per cent to 6,000 by 2031
almost doubling the number of adult nurse training places by 2031, with 24,000 more nurse and midwife training places a year by 2031
providing 22 per cent of training for clinical staff through apprenticeship routes by 2031/32
introducing medical degree apprenticeships with pilots running in 2024/25 so that by 2031/32 2,000 medical students will train by this route
training more NHS staff domestically - in 15 years’ time, we would expect around 9-10.5 per cent of the workforce to be recruited from overseas compared to nearly a quarter now
ensuring that more than 6,300 clinicians start advanced practice pathways each year by 2031/32
increasing training places for nursing associates (NAs) to 10,500 by 2031/32 - by 2036/37, there will be over 64,000 nursing associates working in the NHS, compared to 4,600 today.
Thoughts and Comments
There are no ‘specific costs’ associated with retention elements of the long-term workforce plan, NHS England’s chief executive has admitted. Ms Pritchard
www.pulsetoday...
The document sets out a plan to ‘ensure up to 130,000 fewer staff leave the NHS over the next 15 years’, however that segment of the 135-page report does not specifically mention GPs. Does mention consultants.
www.pulsetoday...
GP training places in England will increase by 50% to 6,000 by 2031 under the £2.4bn plan
RETENTION
Who will train the new trainees and in what time?
Reducing training time may be a false economy - requiring more support in early years.
Funding confirmed to 2028? Only first 5 years costed.
What about the social care workforce - Will there be a plan for that?
Estates? What about estates - where will the people work? How will buildings be maintained?
Wages are a factor in recruitment and retention
APPREntiship. Acceleratd 4yr training untested, lock people out to leaving for other countries, what about training of overseas students in the UK?
Context:
GMC document last week
Pension changes support retention
www.nhsemploye....
www.health.org...
www.bma.org.uk...

[@PHDiaz-vv7yo]

Sincere apologies fellas. Tried to watch this but all felt too dry to me. Hoping there was a clear bottom line for dullards like me.
So in summary, as a GP Partner and reluctant PCN CD, what should I be afraid of? And what could I realistically look forward to?
Happy to be guided to a time stamp - thanks

[@simonorr822]

Nursing Associates are a registered profession effectively they fill the void when State Enrolled Nurses disappeared. There is no prerequisite that on qualification they then have to enrol in a Registered Nursing Degree or Registered Nursing Apprenticeship Degree course. What the role does do as well as filling that void is enable Healthcare Assistants to have a viable route to becoming a registered nurse especially via the apprenticeship route, a goal that might otherwise have been out of reach for them through the more traditional degree course route. It is retention positive as it provides a longer career path for those in healthcare who start out in a non-registered profession.

[@ralphmagtibay17]

So of all the grand plans, there is still no plan for salary increase? Time to finally move on. 😅

[@jitinverma3382]

Theres a lot to get through

[@zarinakhan3575]

So there’s 3 main recommendations?

[@jamesthorburn8118]

15,000 places Andy not 15,000 pounds1

[@andrewfoster5778]

I think all the info scrambled my brain ;-)