Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
In our July 2020 report on Readying the NHS and social care for the COVID-19...
Conclusion
In our July 2020 report on Readying the NHS and social care for the COVID-19 peak, we recommended that the Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) should identify and agree with relevant professional bodies specific actions to support health and social care staff to recover from the impact of the first peak and how they will monitor and provide further support to staff through to the end of the pandemic.20 In its response, the government noted that NHSE&I had established the NHS COVID-19 support programme that includes resources or individuals, line managers and teams that includes one-to-one and group support; health and wellbeing apps and guides; and access to two national helplines.21 We asked the Department what more it was doing to support staff across the health and social care sector. The Department acknowledged that the NHS workforce had been under intense pressure and that research was being undertaken to better understand this. It recognised that “one of the biggest things we can do to support the workforce is to ensure that our hospitals and other places are fully staffed” and this would require more people. It explained that the government had committed to increasing the number of nurses by 50,000 over the current parliament. It asserted that it had 10,800 more nurses than 12 months ago, as well as more doctors, and that training numbers were “very encouraging”. The Department told us that the NHS was working to support the existing workforce, including investing £15 million in 2021 and £37 million in 2021–22 in providing mental health support and counselling services for its workforce. It also noted that the NHS People Plan was focusing on flexible working and improved rostering.22
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.