The NHS published its ‘Long-Term Plan’ yesterday which outlines its strategies for the recruitment of staff over the next ten years and detailed how the £20.5 billion annual budget will be spent.

Among the measures to tackle the staffing crisis include an increase in nurse undergraduate places, job guarantees for nurse and midwife graduates and the introduction of new online nursing degrees as well as overseas recruitment. Other suggestions to improve staff numbers include a focus on clinical apprenticeships, growing medical school places with more part-time options and aiding retention through a commitment to continuing professional development and the introduction of more flexible working arrangements.

“The Long Term Plan sets out action to expand the number of nursing and other undergraduate places, ensuring that well-qualified candidates are not turned away as happens now,” the plan stated. “Funding is being guaranteed for an expansion of clinical placements of up to 25% from 2019/20 and up to 50% from 2020/21. New routes into nursing and other disciplines, including apprenticeships, nursing associates, online qualification, and ‘earn and learn’ support, are all being backed, together with a new post-qualification employment guarantee. International recruitment will be significantly expanded over the next three years, and the workforce implementation plan will also set out new incentives for shortage specialties and hard-to-recruit to geographies.”

Healthcare specialist recruiter Healthier Recruitment said that despite persistent efforts to boost recruitment and retention within the NHS, vacancies are still growing with data from NHS Improvement showing a shortage of 108,000 clinical professionals across the health service, with one in 11 vacancies currently unfilled.

Michael Johnson-Ellis, Managing Director of Healthier Recruitment, commented, ““In our experience many Trusts are already struggling to source the professionals they need amid ongoing staff shortages. Long-term, measures must be put in place to ensure that skills are developed to pipeline talent effectively if the NHS is to meet its pledge of saving half a million more lives over the next 10 years. However, in the short term, it is absolutely vital that Trusts utilise existing workforces strategically - with a specific focus on engaging and developing permanent staff - if they are to realise NHS England’s admirable vision. Thankfully, it seems that the NHS’s latest strategy recognises and addresses this need.”

Chris Hopson, the Chief Executive of NHS Providers, also commented, “This plan cannot be delivered whilst trusts still have 100,000 workforce vacancies. We need urgent action to solve what trust leaders currently describe as their biggest problem. It’s a major concern that we will have to wait longer to get the comprehensive plan that is needed here.”

Prime Minister Theresa May has said Long-Term Plan will transform healthcare.

The plan also sets out how the NHS will move to a new service model in which patients get “more options, better support, and properly joined-up care at the right time in the optimal care setting.” In one of the chapters of the plan, it also mentioned new funded, action the NHS will take to strengthen its contribution to prevention and health inequalities while another chapter of the plan detailed the NHS’s priorities for care quality and outcomes improvement for the decade ahead.

In a speech, May stated, “We are taking a big step to secure the future of the NHS for our children and their children,” she said. “Delivered effectively, our long-term plan for the NHS will secure the health service for generations to come … This is a historic moment. Our vision is clear, our commitment is assured, so let’s deliver the NHS of the future.”