• NHS Improvement (NHSI) and Health Education England (HEE) have announced plans to work more closely together to ensure the national workforce system is well aligned.
• HEE will work jointly with NHS Improvement to develop HEE’s mandate for 2019/20 onwards. The mandate will then need to be approved by NHSI’s board to ensure it meets service requirements, before approval by the secretary of state.
• The new arrangement will oversee the workforce elements for the NHS’s long-term plan.

The head of policy at NHS Providers, Amber Jabbal, said:

“We welcome the plans set out which will see Health Education England and NHS Improvement work more closely together. We have consistently raised concerns about the lack of joined up thinking and action due to the fragmented responsibility for workforce strategy, planning and policy across the national bodies. This change is a step closer to a more coordinated approach to workforce planning for the NHS.

This change is a step closer to a more coordinated approach to workforce planning for the NHS.

Amber Jabbal    Head of Policy and Strategic Projects

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“Workforce concerns are now the number one concern for trusts. It is a sensible approach to ensure that the national strategy for tackling recruiting and retaining the staff we need aligns with what the service will be asked to deliver to meet the care needs of the future.

“We hope that this relationship will help to deliver a coherent, realistic and national approach to address workforce challenges currently faced by the sector and implement the forthcoming national workforce strategy.”