College chiefs demand NHS workforce plan inquiry is reopened

Royal college chiefs have called for an inquiry into the NHS long-term workforce plan to be reopened amid “significant concerns” over its projections.

Seven colleges led by the Royal College of GPs have written to the Commons’ public accounts committee asking it to restart its probe into the workforce plan’s modelling, which began earlier this year but then halted ahead of July’s general election.

It comes after the National Audit Office found “significant weaknesses” in the workforce plan’s projections, such as the number of fully qualified GPs. HSJ has previously revealed GP numbers will barely increase under the national workforce plan.

NHSE has previously said the long-term workforce plan “is based on credible and robust modelling”, which was independently assessed by the Health Foundation think tank.

A letter to new PAC chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, which has been signed by the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Physicians among other bodies, said: “During the inquiry, written evidence submissions reflected significant concerns and recommendations regarding certain aspects of the LTWP.

“However, the general election halted this process, and the inquiry was closed before it was concluded. We are therefore calling on the committee to re-open its inquiry into the LTWP.”

The letter, shared with HSJ, called for the findings of the reopened inquiry to be published ahead of the workforce plan’s next iteration in summer 2025.

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Source: HSJ, 25 October 2024