Healthcare - what's coming up?

On the 11th June the government will announce the decisions they've made for departmental budgets, setting spending plans for the next 3-5 years. Alongside this, we're also expecting the government to publish its Industrial Strategy, setting out their vision to achieve their number one mission: growth. Both of these announcements will have implications for the healthcare sector, and are likely to be closely followed by the publication of the government's new NHS workforce plan.

According to various sources, the NHS is a priority for the government in the spending review, and it is speculated that potentially billions of pounds could be assigned to health as part of any announcements. However, this comes at a cost, and it is unclear where this money will be coming from and it's highly likely that several other departments will have their spending power greatly reduced. With the increase in funding for the NHS, it looks like some of this will be allocated to infrastructure, with new buildings and technology likely to be prioritised. What is not yet clear is how funding for staffing in the NHS will be impacted by the spending review. Staffing budgets for both permanent and temporary staff have been slashed at NHS trusts over the last 12-18 months, and it in unclear if that pattern is set to continue.

More detail on this will be revealed in the workforce plan, as and when this is published, and the REC will be keeping a close eye on developments around this. Regardless of the content in the published document, REC will continue to promote the importance of a properly resourced NHS, which strikes the balance between permanent and contingent hiring. Introducing a new sustainable staffing model for the NHS is a priority for REC, and we will push the government to try and ensure that they do not miss this opportunity to address the ongoing crisis in NHS staffing and the role of agency staff.

In the Industrial Strategy it is less likely that we will see any major healthcare specific announcements, as healthcare is not one of the 8 priority sectors that were announced when the Industrial Strategy was launched last year. However, the Industrial Strategy should set out the government's intentions for modifying the skills and training framework in partnership with Skill's England. Skills England have previously identified the need for bespoke training and development products for healthcare, and this is an area we will kook out for further details on. Following recently announced changes to immigration rules it is also important that the government builds a clear pipeline to replace NHS staff with domestic talent.

REC will be keeping a close eye on further developments for healthcare, and other sectors, in relation to the spending review and the industrial strategy. Members can keep up to date with the latest changes and our analysis of them on our website, and in the REC newsletter.