Recommendation 23

HM Government Acknowledged

Delivery of the People Plan is overseen by NHSEI’s People Plan Delivery Board (PPDB) which brings together national People Plan leads, DHSC representatives, Regional People Board Chairs, system, trust and Primary Care Network representatives. Throughout the pandemic, the four themes of the People Plan – Looking After Our People, Belonging in the NHS, New Ways of Working and Growing for the Future – provided a common framework and clear direction for the workforce response. Efforts were focused on the most impactful actions for our workforce: supporting our people to be safe and well and ensuring their voices were heard; delivering safe staffing of the COVID response and vaccination programme; and sustaining other services with greater use of innovation, technology and new ways of working. All 42 systems delivered this approach; with over 90% achievement of seven out of the eight prioritised actions. The people priorities for 2021/22 and 2022/23, as set out in the national planning guidance, build on the ‘People Plan 2020/21: Action for us all’ and are informed by learning from the pandemic. These aim to embed a more preventative approach to the health and wellbeing of staff, tackle inequalities, lock in beneficial changes and new ways of working, and boost efforts to attract and retain more people. Following the Spending Review, the Department will work with NHSEI and HEE to identify areas where future investment is needed. We will then work together to shape our priorities for the People Plan programme for 2022/23 onwards.