Recommendation 10

The Department explained that estimates of the number of nurses the NHS needs and where are not determined centrally but are produced locally through a bottom-up approach. NHSE&I said that local areas are currently revising their workforce plans in light of COVID-19. These will take account of the staff needed to reintroduce some of the non-urgent care that stopped during the peak of the pandemic and to prepare for a possible increase in the number of COVID-19 cases during winter. NHSE&I said it intends to publish its overall estimate of the number of nurses the NHS needs with the second part of the People Plan, after the publication of the settlement for education and training.18 Integrated workforce planning for health and social care