Government rejects another opportunity to improve NHS workforce planning

The Government has again missed an opportunity to overhaul NHS workforce planning in rejecting an amendment to the Health and Care Bill.
The Houses of Parliament

The Health and Care Bill, the first major piece of NHS legislation since 2012, proposes changes to NHS rules and structures in England by better joining up services, emphasising collaboration rather than competition, and focusing on improving health.

At the end of March, the Government voted to reject an amendment to this Bill that would have made it compulsory for the Government to publish regular, independent assessments of how many doctors and nurses the NHS needs.

The amendment would have helped inform long-term decisions about workforce planning in the NHS – something that has been missing for many years.

The House of Lords voted to insert a weakened version of this amendment back into the Bill, but on Monday evening, it was again rejected by the Government.

Without a long-term workforce plan, heart patients will likely experience further delays, further cancellations and poorer outcomes.

Our response

Dr Charmaine Griffiths, our Chief Executive, said: “In again rejecting a workforce amendment, the Government has failed to seize an important opportunity to help address the critical workforce shortages across the NHS.

“Heart patients are still bearing the brunt of the severe disruption to their care caused by the pandemic, and it will simply be impossible to tackle the still-growing backlog of heart care unless Government takes urgent action to overhaul workforce planning.

"This must come alongside a focused cardiovascular recovery strategy that details how to tackle the severe shortages in cardiac nurses and specialists.”

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