Liberating the NHS - messages for social care

On January 10 2012, the Department of Health published Liberating the NHS: Developing the Healthcare Workforce . It provides a policy framework for workforce planning and education and training of the health and public health workforce. It builds on earlier public consultation and the advice of the NHS Future Forum. This article identifies the social care implications.

Key messages for social care

• The Department of Health retains responsibility for oversight of the development of the adult social care workforce.

• The Department and Health Education England (HEE) will work together to ensure that workforce development across healthcare, public health and social care is integrated and for social care services to have access to clinical skills.

• HEE will include representatives from social care in its advisory structure to ensure that Local Education and Training Boards (LETBs) can secure advice on workforce development, intelligence and planning across the whole system.

• HEE will engage with the social care sector to ensure the right outcomes from education commissioning are achieved.

• HEE will develop integrated and multi-disciplinary approaches to workforce development in ways that support care pathways.

• HEE will work with CfWI’s partner organisations Skills for Care and Skills for Health to further develop competencies across the whole workforce.

• LETBs will work with local authorities and health and well-being boards to take a joined-up approach to developing the local health care, public health and social care workforce. Providers will be key in sharing innovation and examples of good practice.

• The Centre for Workforce Intelligence will provide authoritative and objective advice on workforce planning to the education and training system and will support HEE in providing national oversight and leadership on workforce planning and commissioning education and training. The CfWI will also support and advise local provider-led partnerships in the delivery of their workforce plans and provide information to inform resource allocation.

Integration is a key ambition of Liberating the NHS.  To achieve this ambition requires an integrated and multidisciplinary approach to workforce development. A truly integrated workforce will be better placed to meet the needs of people using services in the future. HEE and LETBs (including providers as members of LETBs) are important as they will work with the social care sector to further integration.

The new policy sets out and describes a number of new elements and linkages, which will feature in the proposed Health and Social Care Bill.

The social care sector need to ensure they are ready to engage with HEE, LETBs and the new structures set out in Liberating the NHS.  This will help to promote truly integrated social care and health care.

Matt Edwards

Centre for Workforce Intelligence

January 2012