Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 9
9
The pandemic placed great stress on some health and social care workers already under pressure.
Conclusion
The pandemic placed great stress on some health and social care workers already under pressure. In our report Readying the NHS and social care for the COVID-19 peak, we found that thanks to the commitment of thousands of staff and volunteers and by postponing a large amount of planned work, the NHS was severely stretched but able to meet overall demand for COVID-19 treatment during the pandemic’s April 2020 peak. We warned that staff in the health and social care sector could not be expected to be ready to cope with future peaks and also deal with the enormous backlogs that had built up. In May 2020, about 45% of doctors responding to a survey by the British Medical Association reported suffering from depression, anxiety, stress, burnout, emotional distress or other mental health conditions relating to or made worse by their work.18 We received written evidence from Dr James Gilleen, University of Roehampton, who carried out a study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on NHS healthcare workers. The study, based on a survey with 2,775 respondents, found that the number of workers with the most 13 Qq 1, 3, 46; Letter from the Department of Health & Social Care, 22 June 2021 14 Q 1; Letter from the Department of Health & Social Care, 9 June 2021 15 Committee of Public Accounts, The adult social care workforce in England, HC 690, Session 2017–19, 9 May 2018, paras 4, 7, 20 16 C&AG’s Report, NHS financial management and sustainability, Session 2019–20, HC 44, 5 February 2020, paras 8, 19 and Figure 3 17 British Medical Association (Ev ILG004); NHS Vacancy Statistics, England, April 2015 - December 2020 18 Qq 80–82; C&AG’s Report, para 39; Committee of Public Accounts, Readying the NHS and social care for the COVID-19 peak, Fourteenth Report of Session 2019–21, HC 405, 29 July 2020 12 Initial lessons from the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic severe levels of stress, anxiety and depression quadrupled in April 2020 compared to pre- COVID-19 levels. This was
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
6: PAC conclusion: Government needs to do more to support the health and social care workforce, who have been under constant pressure during the pandemic, to ensure its resilience going forward. 6: PAC recommendation: The Department should write to us by 31 October 2021 setting out what it is doing to provide mental health and emotional support to NHS staff, what metrics it is using to track the effectiveness of the measures adopted, and how it is performing against those metrics. It should also write to us by 31 December 2021 to provide an update on the substantive long-term NHS workforce plan to ensure the resilience of the health and social care workforce. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: December 2021 6.2 The government recognises that pressures on the workforce throughout the pandemic have been extremely high and is committed to providing the workforce with the support it needs now and in the longer term to ensure its resilience. 6.3 At an early stage of the pandemic, the government prioritised the need for enhanced mental health and wellbeing support. NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSEI) has invested £43 million in mental health hubs in 2021-22, building on the £15 million which was invested to establish these last year. The hubs provide outreach and assessments services to ensure staff receive rapid access to evidenced based mental health services. The 40-system wide mental health hubs are being rolled out nationally, operating at ICS level, meaning any health and care staff within the ICS area can access the hub for support. 6.4 DHSC has recently commissioned Health Education England (HEE) to undertake ‘Framework 15’. This will set out the strategic drivers of future workforce demand and supply including, but not limited to, demographics, science, the nature of work and public expectations. 6.5 While previous iterations of Framework 15 have focused on healthcare, this version will also include registered professionals working in social care, such as nurses and occupational therapists. This reflects the interlinked nature of health and social care as well as the introduction of integrated care systems. 6.6 HEE will lead the work working closely with DHSC, NHSEI and Skills for Care. They will engage widely over autumn and winter 2021 bringing in views from staff, patients / service users, carers and their representatives with a final publication planned for Spring 2022. 6.7 DHSC will write to the Committee as directed in the recommendation.