In short supply: Pay policy and nurse numbers Workforce profile and trends in the English NHS
April 2017
Key points
Note: Read our latest report on NHS workforce.
- Nursing staff numbers are insufficient – and this shortfall is likely to be exacerbated by poor workforce planning.
- Given the pressure on numbers, ensuring that nurses are deployed effectively to support safe and efficient delivery of care is vital.
- Most NHS staff will have had a pay cut since 2010/11 and current public sector pay policy implies they will face further pay cuts in the coming years.
- The NHS needs a pay policy that will enable it to recruit, retain and engage the workforce it needs to succeed.
- Agenda for Change staff at Band 5 and above – which represents 625,000 people and includes all nurses - will face a 12% pay cut between 2010/11 and 2020/21, after accounting for inflation.
- Workforce planning is essential to ensuring productivity and requires a clear and coordinated workforce strategy.
- Piecemeal policy making, however well-intentioned any individual initiative might be, is not serving the NHS well.
In April 2017, the House of Lords Select Committee on the Long-Term Sustainability of the NHS concluded that the biggest internal threat to the sustainability of the NHS is the lack of a comprehensive national strategy to secure the NHS and care system the workforce it needs.
This briefing, and its two supplements, examines two of the most important issues in workforce policy today which pose both immediate and long-term risks to the ability of the NHS to sustain high quality care: staffing numbers and standards and the future of NHS pay policy. It highlights that the lack of a coherent workforce strategy which is integrated with funding plans and service delivery models is one of the Achilles heels of the NHS.
Further reading
Report
Building the NHS nursing workforce in England
The current shortfall of nurses represents a major long-term and growing problem for the NHS. This...
Press release
At the start of the pandemic, NHS earnings had fallen in real terms by over £600 per employee over the last decade
Health Foundation response to the government's evidence to the NHS review body of a proposed 1% pay...
You might also like...
Press release
Continued pressure on emergency services not safe or sustainable
Health Foundation response to the NHS England monthly performance statistics.
Press release
Government must go further to level up the health recovery
Health Foundation response to the Queen’s Speech 2022.
Press release
Health and Care Act passes but leaves unfinished business for the NHS and social care
Health Foundation respond to Health and Care Act receiving Royal Assent
Get social
Health Foundation @HealthFdn
'Improving a large system like the NHS demands complex answers. This must include investment and longer-term planni… https://t.co/jUcMi5UKl5
Follow us on TwitterWork with us
We look for talented and passionate individuals as everyone at the Health Foundation has an important role to play.
View current vacanciesThe Q community
Q is an initiative connecting people with improvement expertise across the UK.
Find out more
