RCP Cymru Wales has published the summary and findings from the Welsh royal colleges and professional bodies advisory group spring workshop with Health Education and Improvement Wales on NHS Wales workforce data and intelligence.
In July 2022, royal colleges, faculties, specialist societies and professional bodies in Wales established a multidisciplinary external advisory group on workforce planning, service transformation and other shared priorities.
Convened by the Royal College of Physicians, membership is made up of more than 30 membership organisations representing tens of thousands of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, therapists, pharmacists, dentists, paramedics and social workers in Wales. The group aims to work collaboratively with the Welsh government, NHS Wales and local authorities to improve how we educate, attract, retain and redesign the health and care workforce while valuing, motivating and supporting staff to deliver high-quality patient care.
On 31 January 2023, the Welsh royal colleges and professional (RCAP) bodies advisory group met with representatives of HEIW in a joint workshop to discuss the collection and analysis of workforce data and intelligence in Wales. This was the first workshop of its kind.
Key messages
- Workforce and digital should be a core part of how we design and deliver health and care services
- Converting activity and performance data into workforce demand data is a challenge
- Partnership working is crucial: collaboration with stakeholders will improve workforce data quality
- The new workforce observatory will support horizon scanning, data modelling and strategic planning
- NHS Wales vacancy data for the directly employed workforce will be published online from June 2023.