Working out the workforce.

摘要

The imminent general election is not the only reason why change is in the air for the NHS. As the past decade's unprecedented growth in NHS funding comes to an end, the future is daunting, irrespective of which party forms the next government. Pay, pensions and staffing levels will all be likely targets for the big freeze as public sector funding takes a hit. A stocktake of NHS staffing changes over the past ten years reveals some trends that are likely to continue. It also creates a benchmark against which future changes can be assessed. Figure 1 shows the overall changes in the broader nursing and midwifery workforce in the period since 1998, measured in whole time equivalents (WTE).