See the latest information and briefing on workforce planning in the Health and Care Bill.
As the Health and Care Bill reaches the House of Lords, there are now over 70 health and care organisations – including the Royal College of Physicians – supporting stronger provisions on workforce planning.
You can download a briefing and see the full list of organisations within this coalition at the bottom of the page.
Throughout the Commons stages the RCP has been one of many health and care organisations calling for provisions on workforce planning in the Health and Care Bill to be significantly strengthened.
This culminated in a vote at report stage of the Bill pushed by the Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt MP on 23 November. The amendment tabled by Hunt would have required the secretary of state to have to publish regular assessments of current and future workforce numbers, but it was unfortunately rejected by MPs at 219 to 260 votes.
The RCP was disappointed that this did not pass. Workforce is the key limiting factor in the government’s ambitions for health and care, with the recent RCP census showing that 48% of consultant posts across the UK were unfilled last year – largely due to a lack of any applicants at all. It is the highest proportion of unfilled posts in almost a decade, and a 33% increase in the rate of unfilled posts since 2013.
The bill now goes to the House of Lords, where Peers will have the opportunity to debate its contents and suggest amendments. The coalition of health and care organisations continues to believe that the bill must be amended to include independent assessments of current and future workforce numbers based on the projected health and care needs of the population.
Why do we need the amendment?
Clause 35 of the Bill currently places a duty on the Secretary of State to publish a report describing the system in place for assessing and meeting workforce needs once a parliament. This will bring clarity to workforce planning but given the scale of the challenge facing the health and care workforce, it does not go far enough. The duty as currently proposed will not tell us whether we are training enough people now to deliver health and care services in future.
The non-legislative approach to workforce planning has not worked. Regular, independent and public workforce projection data will not solve the workforce crisis. But it will provide strong foundations to understand how many staff will be needed in future to meet demand. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said in his recent evidence to the health and social care select committee that ‘we need a much longer-term approach’ to workforce planning, and the Prime Minister said at the liaison committee that he would ‘look at’ the amendment. The data should act as a tool to make strategic long-term decisions about investment in the workforce based on evolving changes in patient demand and working patterns among staff, such as a growing proportion of doctors working part-time.
Download a House of Lords second reading briefing on strengthening workforce planning in the Bill below.