Press coverage of House of Commons Health Committee report
The national and medical press coverage of the report by the House of Commons Health Committee on education, training and workforce planning included positive references to the CfWI. Many newspapers, journals and websites quoted Select Committee Chair Steven Dorrell’s statement welcoming the remit given to the CfWI.
The Independent
Tory former health secretary Stephen Dorrell, who chairs the select committee, raised concerns about an "apparent lack of urgency" in the organisation of the bodies. He said: "Current education and training arrangements are complex, inflexible and unfair. "This complexity makes it more difficult to change the way care is delivered and respond to the needs of patients; the NHS needs much more effective arrangements for planning and training its future workforce. "For those reasons, we welcome the plan to create Health Education England, alongside Local Education and Training Boards and we welcome the remit given to the Centre for Workforce Intelligence.
Committee chairman Stephen Dorrell 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.”MPs also said workforce planning in the past had had been characterised by “boom and bust”, with alternating oversupply and undersupply of trained staff. They welcomed the role of the Centre for Workforce Intelligence, which will now analyse and interpret data for workforce planning in the NHS, and said providers must face penalties for not providing it with data.
The DH said the Government had accepted recommendations from the Centre for Workforce Intelligence for a substantial increase in the number of entry-level GP training posts. Ministers also met with the RCGP earlier this month to discuss plans to address the severe shortage of GPs on the ground, with a particular emphasis on getting more GPs working across London. A DH spokesperson said: ‘The Centre for Workforce Intelligence recommended there should be 3,250 GP placements by 2015. We're currently working with SHAs and deaneries to implement those workforce plans.’
“The RCP agrees with the Committee that effective workforce planning depends on up-to-date and high quality data. The RCP’s Medical Workforce Unit conducts the most comprehensive audit of the medical consultant and registrar workforce. We can help the Centre for Workforce Intelligence improve the data available to them, which will help performance manage the new education and training system”.
Tory former health secretary Stephen Dorrell, who chairs the select committee, raised concerns about an 'apparent lack of urgency' in the organisation of the bodies. He said: 'Current education and training arrangements are complex, inflexible and unfair.'This complexity makes it more difficult to change the way care is delivered and respond to the needs of patients; the NHS needs much more effective arrangements for planning and training its future workforce. 'For those reasons, we welcome the plan to create Health Education England, alongside Local Education and Training Boards and we welcome the remit given to the Centre for Workforce Intelligence.
The House of Commons Health Committee report on education, training and workforce planning was published on 23 May 2012. The CfWI response to the report is available on the CfWI website.