Head of Workforce Transformation for HEE North, Kevin Moore, told delegates “We need more of what we haven’t got and we need to do something about it. Growth and demand is rising and we just can’t meet a demand which is growing so fast.”
Kevin, who leads the workforce transformation team that is working for each of the seven Local Workforce Action Boards (LWABs) in the north, and the associated STP/ACS teams on the emerging workforce strategies, detailed some of the challenges facing healthcare currently and likely challenges in the future.
“The conversation has to move on – it’s about workforce and service transformation. We need to innovate and be more productive. Overseas recruitment will not be an option in the future as those countries will be facing challenges of their own. We must find a homegrown solution.
"The government is going to be looking for a massive productivity increase for their 10 year money deal. And productivity will be linked to long-term investment in technology, skills training, leadership and innovation,” he warned.
"We can’t fail our patients so we have to start to modernise. It’s not going to be acceptable to just have pockets of best practice here and there."
Take-aways
- Put a different structure around outpatient care – more community or remote monitoring
- Put the patient at the centre of everything
- Consider new ways of working – taking services out into the community
- Get to know your LWABs
- How open is your department to change?
- Have you got the right people to lead this change?
- Are you sharing your data – both good and bad?
"Very different systems and practices will be needed to meet requirements of very different areas and trusts will need to address many issues, including staff retention, skills, new roles, increasing HEI places, flexible employment models, good employment practice and more," Kevin said.
“The key is capacity and capability – to secure the future we need to think about this now.”