‘Refreshed’ NHS workforce plan delayed again due to ‘potential political change’
The ‘refreshed’ NHS workforce plan has been delayed again and is unlikely to be published before the parliamentary recess, the health secretary has said.
James Murray told the parliamentary health and social care committee today that the plan will be published ‘shortly’ but did not commit to it coming out before the summer recess starting next week.
And permanent secretary to the Department of Health and Social Care Samantha Jones told the committee that the delay has been influenced by ‘potential change from a political perspective’, referring to the Prime Minister stepping down last month.
The new strategy was announced in 2024, when then health secretary Wes Streeting said the Government would rework the current NHS workforce strategy, published in 2023, and committed to publishing a refreshed NHS workforce plan.
It was initially meant to be published last summer, but had since been delayed to Spring this year.
Mr Murray said: ‘It should be published shortly, I will say, in Government speech. I know that’s an irritating answer. We just need to get agreement for when we can publish it. I think the work is largely done.’
Ms Jones said: ‘As you will be aware, with any potential change from a political perspective, we are required to ensure that any decisions that are taken in the future are taken in that context.
‘It is actually a permanent secretary in a cabinet office responsibility to determine and advise when things from a significant strategic perspective are published, and what that means is I cannot give you a guarantee that it will be published before recess, but as the Secretary of State said, absolutely as quickly as possible.’
According to the 10-year plan for the NHS, this workforce strategy will include ‘fewer staff than projected’ by 2035.
A draft of the workforce plan recently seen by the Financial Times argued that treating more patients ‘in local clinics or at home rather than hospital and using technology better’ will mean the NHS ‘does not need anything like the growth rate [in staff numbers]’ set out in its 2023 workforce plan.
The 2023 plan had projected a 4% increase of fully-qualified GPs by 2036/37, compared to a 49% increase in hospital consultants, and the current Labour Government has since rejected its aim to increase NHS headcount by 60% by 2037 as unworkable.
The Government previously said that it will end the NHS’ ‘dependency on international recruitment’ by capping new overseas recruit numbers at 10% by 2035 to create a more ‘sustainable’ workforce.
In 2023, Pulse’s award-winning investigation looked at the long-term workforce plan in full to understand whether it would solve any issues in general practice.
