Plans to overhaul education, training and workforce planning in the NHS lack crucial detail and a sense of urgency, MPs said today.
The health select committee said reform of the £5bn NHS training budget was welcome in principle, but warned that without greater clarity the success of the changes were at risk.
Ministers plan to create a new body, Health Education England, which will sit alongside local education and training boards. According to Department of Health plans, the HEE will provide national oversight and strategic planning and allocate education and training resources. The local boards will be the vehicles through which professionals will work with the HEE.
But health committee chair Stephen Dorrell said the government should urgently provide more detail about how these bodies will operate and work together.
‘They are supposed to be responsible for a £5bn training budget from next April, but the government has not yet published a detailed plan of how the new structures are intended to work,’ he said.
‘We are concerned about this apparent lack of urgency and we believe that failure to address these issues quickly will lead to risk for patients and confusion for staff.’
The proposed tariff system for paying education and training providers would improve fairness and transparency, the MPs concluded. But they suggested a levy on all health care providers, including the private sector, would be much fairer and more open.
Dean Royles, director of NHS Employers, welcomed the report, saying the MPs had done a ‘remarkable job’ in diagnosing the problems affecting education and training in the NHS.
‘The planning system for the medical workforce has become disconnected and distant from current and future patient needs. We need to make sure we start with patients and consider the entire workforce in our planning,’ he said.
‘We would welcome clarity to let local education and training boards get on with implementing their structural forms as soon as possible.’
