The review presents ‘a significant opportunity’ to invest in the medical workforce.
The RCP has welcomed the funding the NHS has received to support the recovery of elective services given the huge volume of demand that has built up since March 2020. Additional funding for operations, diagnostic checks and other procedures is welcome but, as this submission makes clear, without a well-resourced workforce, it can only do so much.
Workforce will be a limiting factor in managing the backlog, and a key limiting factor in the government’s wider ambitions for healthcare. Faced with a growing trend for less than full time working among doctors starting their careers and expecting a significant proportion of the consultant workforce to retire in the next 10 years, there is an urgent need to act .
This multi-year spending review is a significant opportunity to invest in expansion of the medical workforce.
