Year published: 2017
Summary of CSP evidence
- Workforce supply issues need to be addressed taking a multi-professional approach.
- Not to take this approach risks workforce supply in other parts of the health care workforce, and patient care needs not being met in the most effective, efficient way.
- There is a shortfall of physiotherapists, created by previous insufficient commissioning of student places. The move to a market-led system is helping to correct this.
- The Department of Health or the Department for Education urgently need to clarify arrangements for students entering Masters pre-registration programmes from 2018/19, to avoid workforce supply shortages from 2020, and to consider the value of extending the support within Nurse First to the allied health professions.
- The Government needs to clarify responsibility and leadership for workforce planning, including the role of HEE and the cross-cutting areas of policy between the Department of Health and the Department for Education.
- Workforce planning needs to be reformed and to be more strategic, inclusive of the whole health economy and taking account of changing structures and determinants.
- The practice education tariff has the potential to be an important stimulus to growth in pre-registration education provision, with further expansion dependent on a growth in practice education placements.
- However, provision of practice placements for students will not attract more people to apply to become student nurses or other professions where there are underlying difficulties in recruiting students and difficulties retaining students and staff.
- The Office for Students will have an important role to play in continuing the work of HEFCE in investing in University health programmes, recognising tuition fees do not meet the full costs of delivery. This applies to physiotherapy and the other allied health professions.
- Investment in more multi-professional and inter-professional learning and development is needed to support transformation of the health and care system.
- The apprenticeship agenda could form a significant new pipeline of workforce supply and a means of developing the existing workforce. It needs to be progressed taking a strategic and multi-professional approach to population, service and workforce needs.
- Brexit negotiations and changes to immigration policies must take account of the reliance