- NHS People Plan to address new pandemic challenges and
improve physical and mental health support for staff
- Health Secretary calls on health and social care staff
to share where rules and regulations could be amended in
bureaucracy-busting push
- Recruitment drive will capitalise on renewed interest
in jobs in health, as NHS careers website sees 138%
increase in interest in nursing
The NHS People Plan
published today puts NHS staff wellbeing at its heart with
a new recruitment, retention and support package. It sets
out practical support for wellbeing such as safe spaces to
rest and recuperate, wellbeing guardians and support to
keep staff physically safe and healthy.
The People Plan builds on the innovations driven by staff
during the pandemic and sets out how the NHS can embed
them.
This includes:
- the rapid assembly of research nurses and clinical
trial assistants to recruit patients for the world’s
biggest randomised clinical trial
- the surge in volunteers to support those in need
- a new emphasis on flexible working with remote meetings
and consultations becoming widespread
The People Plan and a new bureaucracy-busting call for
evidence will work together to find and promote positive
changes made before and during the pandemic. This could
include allowing staff to use secure messaging services
like WhatsApp so patients can benefit from rapid access to
information and making it easier to link millions of
primary care records to the latest data on coronavirus,
helping government do the world’s largest analysis of
coronavirus risk factors.
Health and Social Care Secretary said:
Every single person working in the NHS has contributed to
an unprecedented national effort to beat back this virus
and save lives. They have protected us and in return this
government will do everything in its power to protect and
support them.
By making the NHS the best place to work we’ll recruit
and retain more talent and deliver 50,000 more nurses,
6,000 more doctors in general practice and 26,000 staff
primary care professionals.
Our NHS people deserve to get on with caring for patients
and this crisis has proved there’s bureaucracy that our
healthcare system can do better without. So I’m urging
people across the NHS and social care to speak up about
what red tape you can do without to allow you to better
deliver the high-quality care you are renowned for.
Key actions from the NHS People Plan include:
- from January 2021, all job roles across NHS England and
NHS Improvement will be advertised as being available for
flexible working patterns
- all NHS organisations will complete risk assessments
for vulnerable staff, including black and ethnic minority
colleagues, and take action where needed
- encouraging former staff to return to practice as part
of a recruitment drive during 2020 to 2021, building on the
interest of clinical staff who returned to the frontline to
support during the pandemic. A recent survey of returners
revealed around half were interested in continuing to work
in the health and social care system
- boosting the mental health and cancer workforce,
including by offering training grants for 350 nurses to
become cancer or chemotherapy specialists
- working with universities to increase over 5,000
undergraduate places from September 2020 in nursing,
midwifery, allied health professions and dental therapy and
hygienist courses
- a new £10 million fund for clinical placements for
nurses, midwives and allied health professionals to support
employers in educating and training the next generation of
professionals
- every NHS trust, foundation trust and clinical
commissioning group (CCG) must publish
progress to ensure that at every level the workforce is
representative of the overall black and ethnic minority
workforce
- the NHS will launch a new quarterly staff survey to
better track morale on top of the current annual survey
The pandemic also highlighted areas where unnecessary
bureaucracy can be cut, while still ensuring safe, high
standards of care. Health and care staff will be invited to
share their insights and experiences of overly burdensome
bureaucracy in the health and social care system as part of
a call for evidence.
Prerana Issar, NHS chief people officer, said:
This plan aims to make real and lasting change in our NHS
to benefit our hardworking staff. It includes practical
actions based on what our people tell us matters to them,
including a more equal, inclusive and flexible
organisation.
The pandemic has created huge challenges, but it has also
highlighted the courage and innovation we are capable of
in the most difficult of times. We have recognised the
need for consistently high-quality health and wellbeing
support for our staff, so they can better care for
themselves and their patients. These changes must remain
part of the blueprint of our NHS as we move forward
together.
During the COVID-19 period professional regulators such as
the Nursing and Midwifery Council and General Medical
Council have introduced virtual hearings which saves both
those being investigated and giving-evidence time. They
have also taken a different approach to revalidation which
provides more time to supporting patients. Developments
like these should be maintained and built upon.
Local systems are being asked to develop their own People
Plans alongside social care and public health partners, to
ensure that local strategies for recovery and to step
services back up have a strong focus on the organisations
people.
A further People Plan will follow, once the forthcoming
spending review has confirmed future NHS education and
training budgets. The government will shortly publish its
Social Care Winter Plan, building on NHS support for the
sector during COVID-19, to ensure the system has the
support it needs in preparation for winter and potential
future outbreaks.
The Prime Minister recently announced a further £3 billion
winter funding for the NHS to relieve winter pressures on
A&E and provide additional capacity for the NHS to
carry out routine treatments and procedures. This is on the
top of a record cash funding boost worth £33.9 billion
extra by 2023 to 2024.
Case study: Milton Keynes University Hospital
Milton Keynes University Hospital (MKUH) has
developed a unique staff benefits programme for its
4,500-strong workforce. In early 2019, the hospital’s
executive team asked staff to come up with ideas to improve
their working lives – however big or small, however
unusual.
The first phase of benefits, which was introduced in May
2019, included:
- enhanced staff health and wellbeing services,
particularly around stress and musculo-skeletal conditions
- enhanced bereavement leave, special leave and flexible
working
- local gym memberships
The hospital committed to a 3-year programme of benefits
for staff, with the next phase including lease cars and
looking at childcare provision. Following the
implementation of this, MKUH has seen
improved retention rates.
The NHS People Plan is
published on NHS England website.
The NHS People Plan aims to make real and lasting change,
setting out the focused action that NHS people have said
they need, right now and for the next 6 months. It
includes specific commitments to:
- look after NHS people, including greater support for
health and wellbeing, building on existing support
including a dedicated health and care staff support line,
specialist bereavement support and free access to mental
health and wellbeing apps. Actions include:
- piloting an approach to improving staff mental
health by establishing resilience hubs working in
partnership with occupational health programmes to
undertake proactive outreach and assessment, and
coordinate referrals to appropriate treatment and
support for a range of needs to ensure that staff are
supported to stay well and in work
- from January 2021, all job roles across NHS England
and NHS Improvement will be advertised as being
available for flexible working patterns
- all NHS organisations will complete risk
assessments for vulnerable staff, including black and
ethnic minority colleagues and anyone who needs
additional support, and take action where needed
- future-proof the NHS by ensuring a pipeline of talent,
capitalising on recent interest in healthcare jobs as the
NHS careers website has seen an unprecedented number of
hits, with the number of people looking for information on
nursing rising by 138% between March and June. This has
already translated into more UK-based applicants for
healthcare courses than ever before, and the latest figures
also show there are over 13,500 more nurses working in the
NHS compared to last year. Actions include:
- a new international marketing campaign through 2020
to 2021, to promote the NHS as an employer of choice
for international health workers, alongside work to
ensure ethical recruitment
- encouraging former staff to return to practice as
part of a recruitment drive during 2020 to 2021,
building on the interest of clinical staff who returned
to the frontline to support during the pandemic, after
a recent survey of returners revealed around half were
interested in continuing to work in the health and
social care system
- boosting the mental health and cancer workforce
including by offering training grants for 350 nurses to
become cancer or chemotherapy specialists
- work with universities to support an increase of over
5,000 undergraduate places from September 2020 in nursing,
midwifery, allied health professions and dental therapy and
hygienist courses
- a new £10 million fund for clinical placements for
nurses, midwives and allied health professionals to support
employers in educating and training the next generation of
professionals
- encourage and scale up new ways of working and
delivering care:
- a new National Learning Hub for Volunteering has
been launched to support the learning, training and
development of volunteers across health, social care
and the third sector and employers should develop plans
to support volunteers who wish to gain jobs in the NHS
- every NHS trust, foundation trust and
CCG
must publish progress to ensure that at every level
the workforce is representative of the overall black
and ethnic minority workforce
- the NHS will launch a new quarterly staff survey to
better track morale on top of the current annual survey
