Closing the gap Key areas for action on the health and care workforce
March 2019
Key points
- Staffing is the make-or-break issue for the NHS in England. Workforce shortages are already having a direct impact on patient care and staff experience.
- Urgent action is now required to avoid a vicious cycle of growing shortages and declining quality. The workforce implementation plan to be published later this year presents a pivotal opportunity to do this.
- This report sets out a series of policy actions that, evidence suggests, should be at the heart of the workforce implementation plan.
- They will require investment of an extra £900 million per year by 2023/24 into the budget of Health Education England.
- Recognising the close interrelationship between the NHS and social care, the report also recommends a series of policy changes to improve recruitment and retention in social care.
Staffing is the make-or-break issue for the NHS in England. This report sets out a series of policy actions that should be at the heart of the workforce implementation plan.
The full report includes the following chapters:
- Introduction
- Training: supply of new staff
- Pay and reward: ensuring pay policy supports recruitment and retention
- A good employer: making the NHS a better place to work and build a career
- Workforce redesign: the right teams with the right skills and technological support
- Supply of new staff: international recruitment
- Closing the gap: modelling the impact of reform and funding on nursing and GP shortages
- Social care: pay, recruitment and retention
- Next steps and conclusion
- Full table of recommendations
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