WORKFORCE ISSUES


annum, it would take 20 years or more for NHS numbers to reach a comparable level. The report concludes this role is not a viable option for addressing short-term workforce shortages, unless there was to be significant increase in investment. A cost effective alternative would be to invest in current staff, such as nurse practitioners, in an effort to close skill gaps and improve productivity.


Can the planned new ‘associate nurse’ role make a difference?


The NHS has a mixed track record of introducing new roles, and questions remain over how training of nurse associates will be funded, how many are required and to what timeline. The report concludes this role will not be a quick fix for current and looming nurse shortages. An alternative would be to improve productivity by investing in the skills and retention of current staff.


Can the NHS make more effective use of temporary staff? Temporary staff provide flexibility for local employers faced with current and looming staff shortages. The arbitrary top-down national cap on costs risks undermining the flexibility of local employers to address staffing shortfalls and exacerbating ineffective and reactive use of temporary staff. The report concludes that policymakers need to look at how targeted policies can better align temporary staff use with retention and international recruitment to address current shortages, in order to buy time, while a more long-term sustainable approach is introduced. Anita Charlesworth, director of research


and economics at the Health Foundation, concluded: “Funding constraints and workforce shortages without a doubt present the greatest risks to the delivery of the Five Year Forward View – and the longer-term sustainability of our NHS. The current approach to workforce policy needs to be overhauled so that staffing and funding are treated as two sides of the same coin. “The recent decision for the UK to leave the EU will create additional challenges – both in terms of finances and the ability to attract and retain valuable European staff. We urgently need a fully aligned and coordinated national approach to workforce policy and planning, underpinned by greater predictability on funding, to ensure the NHS can sustain high quality healthcare for the long term.”


Reference


1 Health Foundation, Staffing matters; funding counts, July 2016, accessed at: www.health.org.uk


CSJ


OCTOBER 2016


WWW.CLINICALSERVICESJOURNAL.COM I


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Healthcare at home.


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