Revised workforce plan expected by summer, but CCA demands immediate action

CCA chief executive Malcolm Harrison has called on the government to take urgent action to address the community pharmacy workforce crisis

The government has decided to refresh the NHS workforce plan, prioritising on shifting care from hospitals and into the community.

The revised plan, expected to be unveiled in the summer 2025, aims to ensure the workforce is used effectively to support the delivery of the upcoming 10-Year Health Plan, with a bigger focus on training and hiring more GPs, health visitors and community nurses.

Health secretary Wes Streeting explained the need to revise the plan citing Lord Darzi’s report, which highlighted the dire state of the NHS, including that “too many people end up in hospital because there aren’t the resources in the community to reach patients earlier.”

“Our 10 Year Health Plan will deliver 3 big shifts in the focus of healthcare: from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.

“We will refresh the NHS workforce plan to fit the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, so the NHS has the staff it needs to treat patients on time again,” Streeting said.

NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard emphasised that having a “sustainable workforce” is essential for building an NHS fit for the future.

She added that the plan would be updated regularly to meet the changing and growing needs of patients and confirmed the NHS would collaborate with the government on both the workforce plan and the 10-Year Health Plan, which is due to be published next spring.

The workforce plan, set to be revised every two years, will follow in the summer 2025.

However, the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) argued that the government should focus on implementing the plans that are already in place.

“It’s frustrating that we keep jumping from plan to plan, when the focus should be on delivering the plans already in place,” said Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the CCA.

He noted that no details have been provided on how the goals of the current NHS Long Term Workforce Plan would be implemented, particularly the commitment to expand training places for pharmacists by 29 per cent to around 4,300 by 2028/29, and the pledge that ARRS expansion would be “carefully managed” to account for the additional training of pharmacists.

He expressed hope that the upcoming workforce plan would not “water down any previous pledges” that had been made.

Although he welcomed the increased focus on community provision, he stressed the need for urgent action to address the community pharmacy workforce crisis.

The government’s recent budget has allocated nearly £26 billion this year and next to tackle workforce shortages and reduce waiting lists, including the provision of an additional 40,000 appointments.

Thrust leaders call for comprehensive plan

NHS Providers acknowledged the necessity of updating the NHS workforce plan, and urged the government to consider wider challenges facing health service in the process.

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said: "Trust leaders fully back plans to shift more care from hospitals to the community and it makes sense for the NHS to update its workforce plan to ensure it has the right staff in the right places to deliver this much-needed change.

"But it’s vital that the revised workforce plan also looks at the bigger picture and the wider workforce challenges facing the health service.”

NHS England faced over 100,000 vacancies, alongside ongoing concerns about staff burnout and morale, he stated, stressing that greater efforts were needed to “protect, support, and retain existing staff, including GPs, who are under unprecedented pressure.”

"This will be vital for the NHS to deliver the prime minister’s ‘milestone’ for the NHS to treat 92 per cent of patients within 18 weeks and to address long waits across other services, such as mental health and urgent and emergency care.”

“We also need to remember the scale of the challenge facing the social care workforce, which is not covered by this plan,” he added.

Trust leaders also want reassurances that the plan will be backed by full funding.

Need greater focus on retention of GPs – RCGP chair

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has welcomed the health secretary's decision to review the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, responding to their long-standing calls for change.

Almost 10,000 RCGP members previously called on the Health Secretary to prioritise GP retention in the plan and address the stark disparity between projected numbers of hospital consultants and GPs by 2037.

The original workforce plan would increase hospital consultants by 49 per cent, but the equivalent rise in fully qualified GPs would have been just four per cent between 2021 to 2022 and 2036 to 2037.

In a letter to The Telegraph, RCGP chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne highlighted the importance of training more GPs as well as the need for a greater focus on retaining GPs in the next iteration of the workforce plan.

According to recent RCGP polling, over 40 per cent of GPs said they were unlikely to continue working in general practice in the next five years, citing stress and burnout as key factors.

Professor Hawthorne called for initiatives aimed at supporting GPs at all career stages to keep “highly-trained, experienced GPs in the profession longer, delivering patient care.”

She added: “This is a step in the right direction, and we’re pleased the Health Secretary is listening - we look forward to working with the Government and NHS England in ensuring the revised LTWP works alongside the forthcoming 10 Year Health Plan to build a robust general practice service that can deliver the care our patients need, and keep the NHS sustainable.”