Will Rishi Sunak’s plan to tackle the NHS staff shortage work?

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7 hours ago

will you work

This answer is yes to recruiting, but with a caveat.

The scheme is funded for the first five years but for 10 years after that, there is an assumption that future governments will find the funds to keep up with the required growth in training venues.

It is hard to believe that the new administration will dent the growth of the NHS workforce and the training of thousands of doctors and nurses.

But, never say never when it comes to public finances.

Increasing the number of clinical staff to the extent envisaged in the plan will ultimately have a positive impact on patients – but retention will be an even greater demand.

The plan’s policies for improving morale and holding on to employees seem a bit vague. Recruitment will not achieve much if the exodus continues at the current rate.

Is this the right approach?

Recruitment and retention have long been held up as the required dual-track approach to the NHS service.

Health think tanks and charities were queuing to welcome the plan because it adopted the policies most experts advocated.

Then again, the enthusiasm must have been partly relieved because finally there was a plan for the NHS workforce after there had been nothing to compare in the past two decades.

Modeling future patient demand seems reasonable, and health think tanks have been called upon to crunch the numbers.

Productivity assumptions are included. Some of the Royal Medical Colleges have indicated that the plan is ambitious and would like to see more details.

The idea of ​​a medical apprenticeship is radical with staff in other NHS jobs being trained to be doctors.

But the exact procedures of this scheme will need time to work.

Why is payment not part of the plan?

Pay is definitely the elephant in the room.

Most large organizations that develop a workforce plan have a pay appropriate section to attract and motivate the best employees.

This is something NHS England cannot do with its strategy.

Image source, Getty Images

photo caption,

Nurses and doctors protesting in Westminster in July – further strikes by NHS staff planned for July

NHS salaries are the monopoly of the government and it is up to ministers to decide. Most disputes over pay in the NHS have been settled but doctors’ campaign is far from over with more strikes planned.

Health unions have long argued that the best way to retain employees is to raise wages at a time of acute living pressures.

Senior management had to take sides in the argument and deal with the consequences of the strike.

Will it make a difference?

In the short term – no, when it comes to increasing the number of doctors, nurses and other health workers.

Training clinical professionals takes several years and expansion into new places at medical schools and universities will not begin until the fall of 2024.

Implementation may slow if there are not enough experienced doctors and nurses to devote time to running the training.

Retention initiatives aimed at reducing the number of freelance NHS staff could make a little difference over the next year or so.

But, patients who are currently frustrated at not getting an appointment with a GP or who are on a long waiting list for an operation probably won’t notice.

Isn’t it time now for a broader strategy?

The planning to train tens of thousands of health workers beyond 2030 is impressive.

There has been nothing that can compare in recent years with sporadic limited-time initiatives.

But, what will the rest of the NHS look like by then? Will the service keep pace with the increasing burden of disease associated with an aging population?

Will the public be willing to continue funding the NHS through taxes? Is payment provided for some services? What difference will technology and artificial intelligence make?

There is no long-term plan to invest in buildings and information technology – in other words, the hospitals and clinics where the new staff will work and the computers they will use.

Publication of the multiyear workforce plan could spur politicians to devise broader health reform and financing strategies over a decade or more.

But don’t hold your breath.

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