NHS groups urge new health secretary to pause 10-year workforce plan
NHS workforce bodies have written to the new health secretary, James Murray, urging the government to pause moving forward with its upcoming workforce plan for the health service in England.
The government’s latest long-term 10-year NHS Workforce Plan is expected to be published imminently, during this month, but the organisations have warned it is likely to fail to address persistent staffing decline, unsafe conditions and rising patient demand.
The joint letter to Murray, who took over after Wes Streeting stepped down from government in May, has come from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), British Medical Association, Society for Acute Medicine, Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing, and trade union Unite.
NHS workforce
NHS delays affect employees’ ability to do their job
NHS 10-year Health Plan sets out vision for better trained, homegrown staff
The letter warned that persistent workforce shortages, rising demand, increasing complexity of care and an ageing population are creating unsafe and unsustainable conditions across the NHS.
It also expressed concerns about the plan’s expected reliance on AI and digital technology. Assumptions about these tools “risk overstating near-term productivity gains without sufficient evidence or safeguards”, it said.
It warned the government is also potentially being over-optimistic about how much the service’s expected shift to more of a community-based approach will reduce demand for services elsewhere, and therefore risks underestimating the need for workforce growth across all sectors.
RCN general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “Rising demand, ever more complex need and an ageing population are causing chaos in the NHS, with hospitals facing overwhelming pressure and staff increasingly struggling to keep patients safe.
“We are increasingly concerned the upcoming plan will not reflect the daily reality that staff face and will instead erroneously rely on AI and digital technologies to boost productivity and avoid the need for investment in the workforce. This would be a disaster for patients.
“By joining forces with other colleagues across the health service in demanding a pause in the publication of the workforce plan, we have proven there is unity across the health service in the belief that staffing levels must rise appropriately to meet patient demand,” she added.
The joint letter follows warnings by the RCN that collapsing growth in the registered nurse workforce and increasingly complex patient needs are leaving nursing staff exhausted and struggling to keep people safe.
The college’s latest Shift Survey of 13,000 nursing staff, in May, found nearly a quarter (22%) felt registered nurse numbers were “so far below” what is required there was now a “high risk” of harm on shift.
Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today
Browse more human resources jobs
The post NHS groups urge new health secretary to pause 10-year workforce plan appeared first on Personnel Today.
Source: www.personneltoday.com