Workforce burnout and resilience in the NHS and social care Our submission to the Health and Social Care Select Committee inquiry

Our evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee's inquiry on workforce burnout and resilience in the NHS and social care. 

Workforce issues were the single biggest challenge in health and social care, even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our estimates suggest that the NHS will face a shortfall of 115,000 full-time equivalent staff in England alone this year, with this gap projected to rise to 370,000 by 2030/31 in the absence of major shifts in workforce policy. Pressures are even higher in social care, with the sector having an estimated 122,000 vacancies at any given time. 

A coordinated long-term workforce plan, complimented by well-researched workforce models for both health and social care, is the need of the hour.   

Our evidence considers: 

• long term projections for the future health and social care workforce, and the staffing required to ensure that burnout and pressure on the frontline are reduced
• the impact of COVID-19 on the NHS and social care workforce
• the implications of the UK’s exit from the European Union on the NHS and social care workforce. 

We submitted supplementary evidence to the inquiry in February 2021 following a request from the Select Committee.