Select committee: Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 30
Third Report - Workforce: recruitment, training and retention in health and social care
Published 25 Jul 2022
Paragraph 118
Addressed to Department of Health and Social Care
Health and Social Care Committee Workforce: recruitment, training and retention in health and social care All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
In the absence of an independent mechanism to assess the increase necessary, we agree with the recommendation of the Medical Schools Council and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges that the number of medical school places in the UK should be increased by 5,000 from c.9,500 per year to 14,500. This increase is a long-term solution to bolster the ranks of the NHS and increase overall headcount, but more immediate short-term actions, detailed elsewhere in this report, must also be taken to address the current crisis.
From: Health and Social Care Committee, Third Report - Workforce: recruitment, training and retention in health and social care (HC 115), paragraph 118, 25 July 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 21 April 2023 (deadline 25 September 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response sets out partial and varied positions on the Committee's 73 recommendations, with some agreed, some agreed in principle, and others not agreed, and points to the forthcoming Long Term Workforce Plan.
- On workforce planning (Recommendations 1 and 2) it states "We agree this recommendation" and says the Long Term Workforce Plan will include independently verified projections for 5, 10 and 15 years, which it has "committed to publishing" "shortly".
- On a new nursing bursary scheme (Recommendation 3) it says "We do not agree with this recommendation", citing the training grants already available to nursing, midwifery and allied health students.
- On maternity funding and workforce plans (Recommendations 9 and 10) it states "We disagree with these recommendations", but says it "will consider" the forthcoming Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists report and "will keep further funding under review".
- On social care funding it states "We do not accept" the recommendation of an extra £7 billion a year by 2023-24, pointing to up to £2.8 billion in 2023-24 and up to £4.7bn in 2024-25.