RCSEd Concerns over UK Government Potential Removal of Information on Number of Medical and Healthcare Professionals to be Trained over Next Decade
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In light of the below, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh has issued a statement regarding its concerns:
We are concerned over reports that the UK Government is looking at removing information on the number of medical and healthcare professionals it plans to train over the next decade. Given the high number of NHS staff vacancies and unprecedented demand on services, we urgently need a funded workforce plan with numbers.
There is currently no official public data on the number of healthcare staff needed to meet that demand, now or into the future. Without credible up to date numbers, the system cannot plan.
Whilst we share the Health and Care Committee’s view that workforce planning should be overseen by an independent body, a national assessment of the healthcare staff numbers is urgently needed now to ensure the NHS can meet its current and future demand. This should then be backed by a robust commitment to provide the necessary funding.
Workforce is the biggest challenge facing the NHS, so such a commitment will go some way in putting an under-resourced and over-stretched NHS workforce back on a more sustainable footing.
