Government platitudes need to rapidly turn into tangible solutions for NHS workforce

Commenting on the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee’s report, Workforce burnout and resilience in the NHS and social care, Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said:

“We’ve been warning for some time that there are simply not enough staff in the NHS to meet the healthcare needs of our population, both now and in future. There were close to 90,000 vacancies across the NHS in England before the pandemic and the last eighteen months have been brutal on the workforce. 

“There has been some progress with recruitment but with a waiting list for elective care that has risen to 5 million people, alongside increased demand for mental health services and delivering the largest vaccination programme the country has ever seen, a fully funded long-term workforce strategy is needed, as is a plan for social care.
  
“Government platitudes and promises need to rapidly turn into tangible solutions.”