Over 100 health and care organisations, including the Royal College of Physicians and Action Kidney Cancer, have signed a letter to the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in support of publishing the NHS long-term workforce plan in full. This included assessments of how many staff will be needed to keep pace with NHS demand.

The signatories to the letter first came together as the #StrengthInNumbers campaign to support an amendment to the Health and Care Act for stronger workforce planning. This was also backed by Hunt when he was Chair of the Health and Social Care select committee.

NHS England CEO, Amanda Pritchard, commented on the long-term workforce plan at the NHS Providers conference yesterday saying that the NHS needed Office for Budget-style forecasts. Read more in the Health Services Journal here.

The Chancellor also announced plans for the NHS workforce in his briefing to the House of Commons today:

“…ensuring the NHS has the workforce it needs for the future, including publishing a comprehensive workforce plan next year. This will include independently-verified forecasts for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed in 5, 10 and 15 years’ time, taking full account of improvements in retention and productivity”.

Watch the video clip here: Preview attachment House_of_Commons_17_11_22_11_56_44.mp4

This is a great win for the coalition, who will continue to speak with MPs and Peers to push on a commitment to funding the workforce plan and a timeframe for publication.

There is also a Commons Westminster Hall debate next week on NHS staffing levels opened by Margaret Greenwood. A briefing and the asks of the coalition of the #StrengthInNumbers organisations will be sent for this debate.