The College of Paramedics welcomes the long-awaited publication of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, which seeks to address staffing shortages in the NHS in England and is something we and our AHP colleagues have been campaigning for.
The Plan identifies the need to increase the paramedic workforce by around 14,200 – 15,600 over the next 15 years and offers several opportunities for the paramedic profession. The focus on increasing training places and increased support for apprenticeship and undergraduate courses, and funding for MSc programmes is welcome.
We also welcome efforts to reduce the attrition rates of paramedic learners and support the identification of the need for a breadth of practice learning in placements across hospital, community, and primary care settings.
However, the Plan lacks details on how an increase in training places will be balanced across the different routes available, and how training support will be provided when current Practice Educators are already stretched to capacity. Also, the Plan only partly addresses the issue of retention, as our members have rightly pointed out, staff attrition rates won’t be reduced by increasing the number of new roles alone; we need immediate action to deal with the current loss of staff, so that we can retain knowledge and skills whilst building capacity for future demands.
We are cognisant of the depth of feeling around advanced practice and how this will weave into the future workforce. The College strongly supports those wishing to enhance their skills and abilities which will benefit the patient, but this must be approached consistently, and with academic rigour, supporting paramedics to develop their experience and keeping that wisdom and expertise within the profession but liberating them to augment that expertise supporting multi-disciplinary teams. The lack of a corresponding plan for social care will continue to put pressure on NHS services and financial details beyond the investment in training are also needed if the Long Term Workforce Plan is to be a success.
The College of Paramedics will continue to work with NHS England, our members and other partners to scrutinize the details of the Plan as we develop our new curriculum and support our members whilst realising the opportunities for the modern paramedic to contribute to health and care across the breadth of the system.
Tell us what you think of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, we want to know how our members feel about the Plan.
feedback@collegeofparamedics.co.uk
