NHS Confederation responds to the Health Foundation, Nuffield Trust, and the King's Fund letter to political leaders
Responding to the Health Foundation, Nuffield Trust and the King's Fund letter to Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer and Sir Ed Davey on the need for longer term planning in the NHS, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation said:
“Leaders and staff have strived against the odds in perhaps the most challenging period in the history of the NHS and continue to cope with huge vacancy gaps and industrial action. Remarkably, their efforts are seeing breakthroughs in terms of reducing waiting lists, but progress is not as fast as they would like, and they will need further support to fully realise their recovery ambitions.
“But, as the Health Foundation, Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund rightly point out, long-standing issues cannot be solved with quick, short-term fixes. With this in mind, the important and appreciated NHS workforce plan must be fully utilised and built upon, in order to fill the vacancy gaps and reduce workload pressures on staff.
"Not only that, but with crumbling estates and facilities due to a decade of underfunding, along with social care also experiencing a staffing crisis, leaders will want to see the government help find long-term ways to solve these issues.
“While the first of these three key problems is finally being addressed, the other two have been equally long in the making and will need more than a sticking plaster approach to fix them. Serious action is required on a par with the NHS workforce plan, otherwise we may fail to tackle the rest of the NHS’s co-morbidities, with patient care left to pay the price."
