New strategy puts staff retention at heart of plans
The national NHS Long-Term Plan recognises that the performance of any healthcare system ultimately depends on its people and so in 2023 the first comprehensive national workforce plan for the NHS was published. The plan has a particular focus on retaining existing talent, making the best use of new technology, and recruiting more people to the NHS.
A ‘workforce strategy’ is being put together as part of the Whipps Cross redevelopment to address these national ambitions across the hospital’s catchment area, as well as laying the staffing foundations for the new Whipps Cross Hospital itself.
Working with partners, we are using an innovative ‘whole system’ approach to look at what specific roles, skills and capabilities will be needed in the coming decades in both the new hospital and the wider community, as well as how to address skills gaps in the current workforce.
Through this work we are developing new ‘workforce models’ so that collectively the NHS can provide the best care to local people in the best setting, whether that is in the new hospital, in people’s homes, or elsewhere.
The new workforce strategy will look at how the NHS can retain more staff by supporting people to progress their career, whether that is at Whipps Cross or in a community-based service. The strategy will set out how more can be done to increase opportunities for staff to move between services and learn new skills, taking advantage of opportunities unique to Whipps Cross such as the new Academic Centre for Healthy Ageing.
This means putting training and skills at the heart of the new strategy, with an emphasis on opportunities for staff to ‘act-up’ into more senior roles, receive careers advice and coaching, and reskill. A major part of the focus on skills will be to set out how we enable staff to deploy new technologies to provide even better care to patients. This is particularly important for staff working in the new Whipps Cross Hospital, where technology will play an even bigger role in day-to-day patient care.
The work of retaining more staff also means taking further steps to provide and maintain an inclusive and wellbeing-focused work environment. This means, first and foremost, making sure that staff have safe, welcoming, and inclusive workplaces.
Of course, the NHS will always need to recruit new staff. Alongside the national NHS workforce plan there is also a major recruitment drive taking place across England. Whipps Cross already employs hundreds of local people across all areas of the hospital, some of whom are the second or third generation of a family to work here. However there remains across our local area a huge pool of untapped talent.
Local people, particularly those still at school or college today, will be the future of the NHS locally. To tap into that pool of talent, the new ‘workforce strategy’ will set out how we plan to extend our local links and partnerships.
Acting as an ‘anchor institution’, we’ll work with local schools and colleges, as well as organisations such as local councils, to reach out to our diverse communities and encourage more people to take up a career in the NHS, including at the new Whipps Cross Hospital.