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Securing a sustainable and fit-for-purpose UK health and care workforce
- Source :
- Anderson, M, O'Neill, C, Clark, J M, Street, A, Woods, M, Johnston-Webber, C, Charlesworth, A, Whyte, M, Foster, M, Majeed, A, Pitchforth, E, Mossialos, E, Asaria, M & McGuire, A 2021, ' Securing a sustainable and fit-for-purpose UK health and care workforce ', The Lancet, pp. 1-20 . https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00231-2
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Approximately 13% of the total UK workforce is employed in the health and care sector. Despite substantial workforce planning efforts, the effectiveness of this planning has been criticised. Education, training, and workforce plans have typically considered each health-care profession in isolation and have not adequately responded to changing health and care needs. The results are persistent vacancies, poor morale, and low retention. Areas of particular concern highlighted in this Health Policy paper include primary care, mental health, nursing, clinical and non-clinical support, and social care. Responses to workforce shortfalls have included a high reliance on foreign and temporary staff, small-scale changes in skill mix, and enhanced recruitment drives. Impending challenges for the UK health and care workforce include growing multimorbidity, an increasing shortfall in the supply of unpaid carers, and the relative decline of the attractiveness of the National Health Service (NHS) as an employer internationally. We argue that to secure a sustainable and fit-for-purpose health and care workforce, integrated workforce approaches need to be developed alongside reforms to education and training that reflect changes in roles and skill mix, as well as the trend towards multidisciplinary working. Enhancing career development opportunities, promoting staff wellbeing, and tackling discrimination in the NHS are all needed to improve recruitment, retention, and morale of staff. An urgent priority is to offer sufficient aftercare and support to staff who have been exposed to high-risk situations and traumatic experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to growing calls to recognise and reward health and care staff, growth in pay must at least keep pace with projected rises in average earnings, which in turn will require linking future NHS funding allocations to rises in pay. Through illustrative projections, we show that, to sustain annual growth in the workforce at approximately 2·4%, increases in NHS expenditure of 4% annually in real terms will be required. Above all, a radical long-term strategic vision is needed to ensure that the future NHS workforce is fit for purpose. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.]
- Subjects :
- Economic growth
Personnel selection
030204 cardiovascular system & hematology
State Medicine
Occupational Stress
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
General & Internal Medicine
Humans
Health Workforce
030212 general & internal medicine
Personnel Selection
11 Medical and Health Sciences
Health policy
Strategic planning
ComputingMilieux_THECOMPUTINGPROFESSION
Health Policy
COVID-19
General Medicine
Mental health
United Kingdom
HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Skill mix
Health Occupations
Workforce
RA Public aspects of medicine
Workforce planning
Career development
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Anderson, M, O'Neill, C, Clark, J M, Street, A, Woods, M, Johnston-Webber, C, Charlesworth, A, Whyte, M, Foster, M, Majeed, A, Pitchforth, E, Mossialos, E, Asaria, M & McGuire, A 2021, ' Securing a sustainable and fit-for-purpose UK health and care workforce ', The Lancet, pp. 1-20 . https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00231-2
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....b739b4f25504b4422b1e90f1e2e3a986
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00231-2