Hunt calls for workforce focus

The former health secretary told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, which is this week focusing on the current and future state of the health service, that workforce is a huge issue for the NHS.

‘The argument about money has poisoned intelligent debate about the NHS. The system is geared up to say to ministers, “Give us more money and we will deliver all the things you want”,’ Mr Hunt (pictured) said.

‘In reality, unless you expand the capacity of the system to do things, principally by training up and recruiting more doctors and nurses, it doesn’t matter how much extra money you throw at it – you won’t get the improvements you’re looking for.’

He also warned against a return to ‘target culture’, which he said led to the problems in patient care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.

Later, Mr Hunt tabled an amendment to the Health and Care Bill. The amendment seeks to strengthen government assessment of workforce needs and planning for the future. If passed, the amendment would require governments to publish independently verified assessments of current and future workforce numbers every two years. These should be consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecasts.

The amendment was previously tabled by MP Chris Skidmore, but was not put to a vote. It has now been re-tabled for debate at the bill’s report stage on 22 November. Supporters say the amendment is required as current proposals would not tell the service if enough people are being trained to deliver services in the future.

NHS Providers was one of 60 organisations that helped develop the amendment. Its deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery said the revision could set the basis for a fully-funded, long-term workforce implementation strategy

‘After years of underinvestment in the workforce, this clause would enable strategic long-term spending decisions around workforce planning, and provide the basis for a fully transparent, up-to-date evaluation of current and future staffing needs in the NHS.

‘Workforce shortages are the key limiting factor hurting NHS leaders' ability to provide the highest quality care over winter, while seeking to quickly tackle the large backlog of care brought about by the pandemic.’

The Royal College of Nursing reiterated its concerns over staffing. It called for the health and social care secretary to be held legally accountable for workforce planning and supply. This measure should be included in the Health and Care Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, it added.

In a report that sets out its evidence that the NHS is under unsustainable pressure, the union said workforce shortages must be addressed urgently. In England, there are currently more than 38,000 nursing vacancies, it added.

RCN director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: ‘Speak to any nurse and they will tell you just how concerned they are for their patients as well as their colleagues. They have known for a long time just how the pressures have been growing and they can see the risk to patient care every single day in every part of health and care.

‘This was coming long before the pandemic and is a direct consequence of a long-term failure to invest in the nursing workforce. The government must wake up to the reality and provide the investment that is needed to ensure patient care is not damaged any further.’

The report highlights ‘clear symptoms of an unsustainable system’, including record emergency waiting times; so-called ‘corridor care’ – which it says is ‘fundamentally unsafe and must not be normalised’; dangerously high levels of hospital bed occupancy; increasing registered nurse sickness levels; and the drastic decrease in district and school nurse numbers.