Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
The Department explained that estimates of the number of nurses the NHS needs and where...
Conclusion
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
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
2.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 2.2 The government agrees that the modelling will need to be updated in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, it cannot currently commit to when any such modelling will be complete and publishable as it is likely to be subject to substantive ongoing change as the COVID-19 outbreak develops. 2.3 The NHS Long Term Plan and People Plan described the longstanding shortages in nursing, as well as the pressure of continuing demand growth from a growing and ageing population and the expanding frontiers of medical science and innovation. 2.4 The government therefore committed to ensuring a substantial improvement in nurse staffing levels in England’s NHS by committing to the delivery of 50,000 more nurses, to tackle challenging vacancy levels seen in the NHS, continuing demand growth, and concerns about areas of longstanding unmet need. Nursing numbers have grown by over 13,000 WTEs over the past year.