麻豆原创

Recommendations and commitments

The recommendations and commitments in this Strategy fall into three areas that mirror the areas of focus in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan: attract and retain; train; transform.

We have considered the financial implications of this Workforce Strategy. In recognition of the economic challenges facing the sector and Government, we have tried to make recommendations as cost-neutral as possible - for example by ensuring that investment generates savings elsewhere.

The detailed costings will be subject to the development of a comprehensive implementation plan, which comes as the next phase - and we hope that this is commissioned by or in partnership with Government.

It is important to acknowledge that there are several factors which make it challenging to produce a definitive cost for all the recommendations and commitments in this Strategy, including:

  • Variability in ambition: The ultimate impact of the Strategy will be contingent upon the level of ambition adopted in its implementation. A more ambitious approach will naturally necessitate a greater level of resource allocation and we advocate for that.
  • Prioritisation sequence: The prioritisation of specific recommendations within the Strategy will influence the overall cost profile. Addressing high-priority initiatives first will lead to a different funding need compared to a scenario where all recommendations are pursued concurrently.
  • Implementation effectiveness: The success of the Strategy hinges on the effectiveness of its implementation. Recommendations that are implemented efficiently may yield cost savings that can offset other expenditures within the Strategy.
  • Central government costs are unknown: This Strategy has not been mandated or supported by central government and so these costs are unknown.

The recommendations and commitments fall into three categories:

  • recommendations that require Government choice (including pay, the various options for which would cost the Treasury between £40million and £4.3 billion)
  • recommendations that will be led across the sector or the civil service
  • recommendations that should be funded and led by Government and the sector in partnership, which could be estimated from budgets from previous Government reform programmes but will depend on delivery infrastructure, including robust engagement channels.

For the recommendations that we have not costed, we believe that the current budget for the workforce reform programme of £250m over three years, added to existing workforce development budget in the Department of Health and Social Care, would be sufficient to achieve much of this Strategy but would need more detailed costing.

 

Attract and retain

Discover the recommendations within the Workforce Strategy on what needs to be done to attract people into roles in adult social care and how to keep them once they arrive.

Train

Learning and development is key to the provision of high quality care. Learn about the priorities identified in the Workforce Strategy.

Transform

Transformation of the workforce is needed if we want to ensure we can meet the needs of our ever changing population. The Workforce Strategy defines the areas of focus to make this happen.