Skills for Care response to NHS Long Term Workforce Plan

We’re pleased to see the publication of the NHS Workforce Plan. The prioritisation of prevention and community and mental health services is very welcome. While the plan does not cover social care, it will have to be delivered in partnership with people working in social care who bring a depth of expertise in prevention, personalisation, wellbeing and person-centred support.

As our Integrated Care Systems seek to plan for the workforce across social care and health, the publication of the NHS Workforce Plan will give a welcome direction to priorities in health.

The next step to support the ambitions and planning across the care and health workforces should be the development of an equivalent workforce plan for social care, including consideration of terms and conditions, which will help address increased demands and stresses on people who work in care as demands on services continue to increase. We look forward to the continued partnership working across both care and health for the benefit of all of us and for the benefit of future generations.