The government and NHS will unveil a refreshed workforce plan in the summer with a laser focus on shifting care from hospitals and into the community.
Lord Darzi’s report laid bare the systemic issues which have gripped the NHS for years and led to poorer experiences for patients and staff. The peer asserted that too much care is being delivered in hospitals because of historic underinvestment in the community.
Through a refreshed workforce plan, alongside reform and investment, the government intends to have the right workforce in the right place at the right time to deliver its 10 Year Health Plan. The workforce will form a central part of this plan.
The expansion of the hospital workforce has come at the expense of other care settings and the proportion of the total NHS budget dedicated to acute hospitals has continued to rise, while the proportion of the NHS budget going to primary care has fallen by a quarter in just over a decade – from 24% in 2009 to just 18% by 2021. Despite this significant flow of resources into hospitals, output has not risen at nearly the same rate and NHS productivity has still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
The 10 Year Health Plan is due out next spring. Following that, the workforce plan, which is due to be revised every 2 years, will be refreshed next summer.
