Today, Mims Davies MP, welcomes announcement of record recruitment and reform to boost patient care under first NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.
Record numbers of doctors, nurses, dentists and other healthcare staff will be trained in England as part of the first ever Long Term Workforce Plan published by the NHS – helping to deliver one of the Government’s key priorities to cut waiting lists.
Backed by £2.4 billion of funding over the next five years, the plan represents long-term investment to deliver the most radical modernisation and reform of the workforce since the NHS was founded in 1948.
Coming ahead of the NHS’s 75th anniversary, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out how the NHS will address existing vacancies and meet the challenges of a growing and ageing population by recruiting and retaining hundreds of thousands more staff over 15 years and working in new ways.
This once-in-a-generation opportunity to make long-term staffing sustainable and improve patient care, focusing on retaining existing talent and making the best use of new technology, automating some clinical decisions where it is safe to do so, alongside the biggest expansion of training places in health service history to address the gap.
Commenting, Mims Davies MP, said:
On the 75th anniversary of our health service, I am pleased to see the Government making the largest single expansion in NHS education and training in its history.
In the coming years we will train twice the number of doctors and an extra 24,000 more nurses a year, helping to cut waiting lists and improve patient care. And we will do more to retain our brilliant NHS staff and reform the way the health system works to ensure it is fit for the future.
This is a vision for a better, more modern healthcare system and putting the NHS on a sure footing for the long term.
Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, said:
This is a truly historic day for the NHS in England - for 75 years, the extraordinary dedication, skill and compassion of NHS staff has been the backbone of the health service – and the publication of our first-ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan now gives us a once in a generation opportunity to put staffing on sustainable footing for the years to come.
As we look to adapt to new and rising demand for health services globally, this long term blueprint is the first step in a major and much-needed expansion of our workforce to ensure we have the staff we need to deliver for patients.
We will take practical and sustained action to retain existing talent, we will recruit and train hundreds of thousands more people and continue to accelerate the adoption of the latest technology to give our amazing workforce the very best tools to provide high-quality care to millions of people across the country each day.
Crucially, this plan will also ensure there is an NHS career choice that works for everyone now and in the future, so if you are interested in working for the NHS, or have loved ones who might be, please do find out more – it is a decision I have never regretted.
