What needs to be done to address staffing shortages in health and social care?

England’s NHS does not have an adequate workforce strategy. Staffing shortages in health and adult social care are limiting the delivery of services. Adult social care, which is more organisationally heterogeneous than the NHS, also has a staffing crisis. There are over 250 000 vacant posts across both sectors.1,2 The two systems are symbiotic, and their staffing issues must be addressed together. As the main gateway for patient access to the rest of the NHS, general practice teams hold responsibility for providing care for patients in the community. General practice is hit by the staffing deficit twice over, soaking up additional demand caused by shortfalls in secondary care and social care while grappling with its own staffing crisis. What is the relationship between staff levels, financial cost, and staff and patient welfare across the NHS and social care, and what are the potential solutions?

Workforce numbers in health and social care only tell one side of the story as demand has increased over time because of demographic change. The total number of patients registered with GPs has increased by around 9% since 2015.3 The number of full-time equivalent GPs per 1000 patients has been falling since 2015,1 while the number of posts in health and care have increased by almost 450 000 in the past decade to meet the population’s needs.1,2 NHS workforce data from June 2021 to June 2022 show …

留言 (0)

沒有登入
gif