Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 18
18
Accepted in Part
The Government need to publish an evidence-based plan, supported by up-to-date workforce modelling, setting out...
Recommendation
The Government need to publish an evidence-based plan, supported by up-to-date workforce modelling, setting out how it will increase the capacity and sustainability of all sectors of the specialist palliative and end of life care workforce, as part of the 10 Year Workforce Plan. This should include plans for clear training pathways and a specific target for the staffing of children and young people’s palliative care. (Recommendation, Paragraph 69) Bereavement
Government response summary AI-generated
The government partially accepts the recommendation, highlighting the 10 Year Long Term Workforce Plan's focus on integrating palliative care into generalist education. It mentions an existing career pathway framework for specialist palliative care and plans for funding and places for the Qualification in Specialism Standard modules by March 2027/28, but does not detail a specific plan for increasing specialist workforce capacity or setting staffing targets.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted in Part
Partially Accept Specialist workforce The 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out action to ensure we have a sustainable workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10 Year Health Plan. We are working with partners to ensure the Plan delivers for staff and patients. We are also engaging independent experts to ensure it is ambitious, forward-looking and evidence-based. While the Plan will articulate transformational changes for different professional groups and service areas, it would not be right to set targets for staffing, an issue best managed by individual NHS trusts, which are responsible for ensuring they have the right number of staff, with the right skill mix, to provide safe and effective care. The Qualification in Specialism Standard (QiSS) referenced in the recommendation, sits within a wider career pathway, core capabilities in practice and education framework that has been developed by NHS England (NHSE) in collaboration with Stakeholders The framework supports the development of and planning for the current and future supportive, assistive and registration level nursing workforce (soon to also include allied health professions) who provide universal, targeted and specialist palliative care and end of life care and supports ICBs to ensure sufficient workforce is in place across all settings with the knowledge to deliver the care required. Version 1 of the Career pathway, core capabilities in practice and education framework, incorporating a qualification in specialism for palliative care and end-of-life care, is already available on the NHS Futures website. A Steering Group, led by NHS England’s Chief Nursing Officer’s office is working with NHS England’s Workforce Training and Education leads and their expert reference group to commission the QiSS modules. We are planning to have funding and places ready for March 2027/28.
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