The crucial gap in the People Plan's workforce target

摘要

The NHS is in the grip of a workforce crisis, and nothing is more pressing than the shortage of its biggest resource -nurses. Health unions, charities, patient groups, academics, the media and even the UK governments all agree on one point: the nursing shortage needs to be addressed urgently. This shortage is the 'biggest single challenge' facing the NHS workforce, according to the Interim NHS People Plan, which sets out how the health service will recruit and retain staff. In it, the government outlines its ambitions to increase the nursing workforce in England by 40,000 over the next five years.