The Health and Care Bill must ensure independently verified assessments of workforce numbers A joint letter to The Times

Sir, 

There can be no doubt that the staffing crisis is the single biggest challenge facing our health and care services. Despite this, the proposals for workforce planning in the Health and Care Bill fall woefully short of providing any long-term solution. 

As the bill stands, we will not know whether England is training and retaining enough people to provide health and care services in the future. For that reason more than 60 health and social care organisations are supporting an amendment, tabled by Jeremy Hunt MP, to ensure that we have independently verified assessments of workforce numbers in the years ahead.

All successful organisations rely on long-term workforce planning to ensure they can meet demand, and the NHS and social care system are no exception.

Signed

• Dr Andrew Goddard, President, Royal College of Physicians
• Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of UK Council, Royal College of General Practitioners
• Dr Adrian James, President, Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Pat Cullen, General Secretary and Chief Executive, Royal College of Nursing
• Dr Edward Morris, President, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
• Professor Neil Mortensen, President, Royal College of Surgeons of England
• Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chair, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
• Dr Chaand Nagpaul, Council Chair, British Medical Association
• Anita Charlesworth, Director of Research and the REAL Centre, the Health Foundation
• Richard Murray, Chief Executive, The King’s Fund
• Lynda Thomas CBE, Chief Executive, Macmillan Cancer Support
• Saffron Cordery, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, NHS Providers
• Danny Mortimer, Chief Executive, NHS Employers and deputy chief Executive, NHS Confederation
• Nigel Edwards, Chief Executive, Nuffield Trust