Health Management and Policy Alert

Health and Care Bill: ensuring we have enough staff to meet demand

NHS Providers - 
A coalition of almost 90 health and care organisations – including NHS Providers – calling for stronger provisions on workforce planning in the Health and Care Bill has issued a briefing ahead of committee stage in the House of Lords in January 2022. An amendment has been tabled by Baroness Cumberlege to mandate the regular publication of independent assessments of current and future health and care workforce numbers. This briefing outlines the principles that the coalition believes any other amendment or clause tabled for this purpose needs to meet.

• Briefing
• NHS Providers - publications

The Health and Care Bill: House of Lords, Committee of the whole House: clauses 35-67 and Schedule 6

NHS Providers -
This briefing focuses on amendments to clauses 35-67 and Schedule 6 of the Bill. It expresses concerns that provisions in the Bill open up the possibility of political interference in the health service by drawing significant powers of intervention and direction to the secretary of state. It also welcomes measures to place a new duty on the secretary of state setting out how workforce planning responsibilities are to be discharged.

• Briefing
• NHS Providers - publications

Plugging the gap: estimating the demand and supply of jobs by sector in 2030

International Longevity Centre-UK (ILC) - 

This research projects that as a result of population ageing, Covid-19 and Brexit, the UK economy could see a shortfall of 2.6 million workers by 2030 – almost twice the workforce of the NHS. Amid continued labour market challenges, ILC calls on government to develop a comprehensive workforce strategy to tackle future shortages.

• Report
• More detail

Healthcare regulation: deciding when statutory regulation is appropriate

Department of Health and Social Care -
This consultation is seeking views on the criteria used to make decisions on which health and social care professions should be regulated. It considers how the powers to introduce and remove professions from regulation might be used in the future. The consultation closes on 31 March 2022.

• Consultation
• Department of Health and Social Care - consultations

Professional nurse advocate A-EQUIP model: a model of clinical supervision for nurses

NHS England and NHS Improvement - 

This document describes the professional nurse advocate (PNA) role and the A-EQUIP (Advocating and Educating for QUality ImProvement) model of professional nursing leadership and clinical supervision, and provides guidance on their implementation, including key actions for each relevant group.

• Document
• More detail

The state of medical education and practice in the UK 2021

General Medical Council -
This is an annual report on the realities and challenges faced by medical professionals in the UK’s health care systems. This year’s report looks at how the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and the recovery have affected doctors’ work and training. It also highlights learnings that the UK health services can use to support doctors and patients.

• Report
• General Medical Council - publications

An independent appraisal of the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard

Civitas - 

The NHS seeks to monitor and control diversity and equality through a programme known as the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) – it is based on a series of statistical indicators pertaining to outcomes between white and non-white minority groups. However this paper argues that closer inspection of those indicators reveals ‘they do not withstand methodological scrutiny’.

• Paper
• Press release

A people plan for social care: a special insight

Institute of Health & Social Care Management (IHSCM) - 

The IHSCM and the IHSCM Social Care Innovators People Plan Sub-Committee engaged in a three-month consultation where all current leaders in social care were provided with the opportunity to advise their comments for this report so that a people plan for the sector could be created by the sector instead of just for the sector.

• Report
• More detail

Misconduct in public office: why did so many thousands die unnecessarily?

People's Covid Inquiry - 
A panel of four, chaired by Michael Mansfield QC, heard evidence from over 40 witnesses including bereaved families, frontline NHS and key workers, national and international experts, trade union and council leaders, and representatives from disabled people’s and pensioners’ organisations. This report summarises the concerns raised, including NHS preparedness, government response, the impact on various population groups, the impact on frontline staff, inequalities and discrimination and more.

• Report
• People's Covid Inquiry

Nurses’ pay over the long term: what next?

The Health Foundation - 
This report looks at long-term trends in pay for UK nurses since the establishment of the NHS Pay Review Body in 1983 to the present day. It explores changes over time, how nurses’ pay has changed relative to other public sector workers, and how pay for UK nurses compares to other countries. It calls for for a comprehensive NHS workforce strategy which acknowledges pay as a powerful driver of nurse motivation and retention, and places nurse pay at the front and centre of policies to support the NHS’s post-Covid recovery.

• Report
• The Health Foundation - publications