NHS Workforce Plan: More needed on mental wellbeing support to help retention effort

Commenting on the NHS Workforce Plan –

Dr Rob Hendry, Medical Director at Medical Protection, said:

“There is much to welcome in this long-awaited and ambitious plan, but the key challenge will be delivering on the promise of a renewed focus on retaining the skilled, passionate healthcare professionals who have a long career ahead of them, but are on the verge of quitting. If even more doctors leave, this will negate the planned injection of new doctors. Retention of staff will also improve numbers immediately, while training new staff will take many years.

“While retention is complex and multi-faceted, much of the current workforce is exhausted, fearful and many need support with mental wellbeing issues, which is not only damaging for them but can also jeopardise patient care. While the Government acknowledges this - and the fact that we are seeing more staff absent from work due to mental ill health than ever before - more commitment and detail is needed on how health professionals’ mental wellbeing will be supported and how this will be funded.”

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