A new report by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee has found that England is now short of 12,000 hospital doctors, and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives.
The report says that this is the worst workforce crisis in NHS history and is posing a serious risk to patient safety.
Jeremy Hunt, former Health Secretary, and Chair of the Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee said that tackling the shortage must be a “top priority” for the new Prime Minister when they take over. He said:
“Persistent understaffing in the NHS poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety, a situation compounded by the absence of a long-term plan by the Government to tackle it.”
The report found evidence that, on current projections, almost a million new jobs will need to be filled in health and social care by the early part of the next decade, and extra staff would be needed to keep up with rising demand as the population gets older, and healthcare becomes more technically advanced and complex.
In addition, the committee heard evidence from former Health Secretary Sajid Javid that the Government was not on track to deliver its manifesto commitment to increase the number of GPs in England by 6,000.
There were also significant concerns about maternity service following more than 500 midwives leaving the health service between March 2021 and March 2022.
The committee said that conditions were worse in social care. 95% of care providers are struggling to find staff, and 75% are struggling to retain existing staff.
The Deputy Chief Executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, mental health trusts, and ambulance services said:
“The answer is staring everyone in the face: The Government must come up with a fully-funded, long-term workforce plan for the NHS.”
England Director at the Royal College of Nursing said the risk to staff and patients from low staffing levels should “shock ministers into action”.
In response, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said that the number of people employed in healthcare was now growing and NHS England has been asked to develop a long-term plan to recruit and train more staff.
Comment
Yet again, patient safety and the safety of NHS staff are at risk following the Government’s failure to support the NHS and provide the support the service needs at the time it needs it most.
It is little wonder that retention rates for staff are so poor when the circumstances in which staff are expected to work are so dire. Long hours, staff shortages leading to lack of support, and low pay are just the tip of the iceberg.
There has, for many years, been a need for greater focus on the NHS to improve and support the service. But, now adding into the mix the recovery from the backlog and issues caused by Covid, it is clearly creating the perfect storm and this latest report is worrying. By all accounts, the future for the NHS looks worse if the Government doesn’t make this a top priority now and finds a way to create a long-term and sustainable plan to tackle the staffing crisis.
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Danielle Young is a Legal Director in our Medical Negligence team, which has been ranked in tier one by the independently researched publication, The Legal 500.
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