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Will the government’s NHS workforce plan be a ‘betrayal of all staff’?

Critics respond to claims that the Treasury may remove specific nursing numbers from its long-term plan to address staff shortages
Photo of hospital ward, illustrating story about imminent NHS workforce plan

Critics respond to claims that the Treasury may remove specific nursing numbers from its long-term plan to address staff shortages

Picture: Alamy

The head of a medical union has responded to claims that the government may ‘water down’ plans to increase the number of future nurses, labelling the potential move a ‘betrayal’ of NHS staff.

The much-anticipated NHS workforce plan for tackling the huge number of nurse and doctor vacancies is expected imminently, but reports suggest officials have tried to remove all numbers from government workforce targets.

‘Deeply concerning’ move amid staffing crisis

According to The Times, a source claims staff at the Treasury are under pressure to remove all figures from a blueprint for training and retaining healthcare staff – or face having it blocked.

The RCN called the move ‘deeply concerning’ and counterproductive in the face of the NHS staffing crisis. The health service in England, for example, has 124,000 vacancies – including 43,619 nursing posts.

Good healthcare ‘can’t be delivered on the cheap’

Chair of health services research at the University of Southampton Peter Griffiths told Nursing Standard there was a pattern of reluctance within government to commit to specifics if they look likely to be expensive.

‘Good quality healthcare can’t be delivered on the cheap, and to provide it we need enough nurses and doctors,’ he said.

‘I worry in particular for nursing though, because despite all the evidence that is available, the vital contribution of nurses towards quality and safe care in the NHS is still being neglected.’

Government aims to forecast number of future staff needed

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt previously pledged that the government would publish a long-term workforce plan for the NHS and social care sector to address staff shortages.

He said he hoped the ‘independently verified plan’ would help forecast ‘for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals we will need in five, ten and 15 years’ time’.

But the veracity of the plan could be under threat, as The Times claims that NHS chiefs, in order to keep costs down, are under pressure to ‘make lower estimates’ on how many staff are needed.

‘A plan without numbers is no plan at all’

British Medical Association chair Philip Banfield said that a backtrack by the chancellor now that he ‘holds the purse strings’ would be a ‘personal betrayal of all NHS staff’.

He added: ‘A plan for NHS staffing without numbers is no plan at all. Watering down this long-awaited plan at the 11th hour would be a further sign of the government firmly burying its head in the sand.’

Government remains vague on specifics of imminent workforce plan

The Department of Health and Social Care would not confirm whether its workforce report would include specific nursing numbers when published.

A spokesperson said: ‘We will publish a workforce plan this year focused on recruiting and retaining more staff so we can make the NHS the best place to work.’


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