Trust leaders urge government to support workforce planning change

The House of Lords amended the bill last month, requiring government to publish regularly independent assessments of the workforce needed to meet demand over five-, 10- and 20-year periods. The amendment was supported by 88% of healthcare leaders surveyed by NHS Providers.

The survey, which received 236 responses from board members of 142 trusts – around two-thirds of trusts in England – also warned that staff shortages would have a ‘serious and detrimental’ impact on services, hampering efforts to tackle backlogs and improve patients’ access to care.

The trust executives outlined the workforce pressures they faced, with 97% saying current staff shortfalls were having a serious and detrimental impact on services. A similar proportion said the shortages would slow down progress on cutting waiting lists, with uncertainty over workforce supply adversely impacting morale and staff retention.

NHS Providers deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery (pictured) said trusts were doing their best to reduce waiting times despite ‘worryingly high’ rates of Covid cases in hospitals. But, she insisted, they were doing so with one hand tied behind their backs.

The message from trust leaders was loud and clear, she added. ‘Take this once in a decade opportunity to tackle long-standing failures in workforce planning and accept the solution offered by the workforce amendment when the bill returns to the House of Commons.’

Committing to regular assessments of workforce needs ‘would give NHS staff immediate hope that the government is taking this problem seriously, helping to retain those in the workforce today’, she said.

‘A failure to do so would almost inevitably compound staff shortages and workforce ‘burnout’, just as the NHS strives to reduce backlogs in care. The government must set out how it plans to tackle 110,000 NHS staff vacancies and make workloads sustainable. A long-term plan for a resilient workforce is vital.’

The Commons is due to consider the Lords’ amendments on 30 March, with the government pushing back against the requirement for regular workforce reports. Announcing his long-term vision for NHS reform on 8 March, health and social care secretary Sajid Javid promised a ‘proper long-term workforce plan’, adding that a bigger workforce was essential.

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