Chloe SmithMP for Norwich North
Chloe SmithI welcome the publication of the NHS's long-term workforce plan today.
This plan signals the largest NHS expansion in history and is set to build the NHS workforce capability for the future.
The detailed plan outlines how the NHS intends to train and develop staff, retain their staff within the NHS longer term, reduce its reliance on agency staff, enable a smoother return to the profession for leavers, and create new and faster routes to careers in the NHS.
The plan outlines the NHS' target workforce number across; doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, paramedics and the allied health professionals such as podiatrists, physiotherapist and occupational therapists.
By 2037 there will be at least an extra 170,000 nurses, 60,000 doctors and 71,000 healthcare professionals.
Without a doubt, it will take time for the staffing levels to increase, and change won't happen overnight. Training staff to undertake specialist roles within the NHS can take years. Overall, this plan will improve the pipeline of new staff coming into the NHS, and speed up training so that staff can transition more quickly from classroom to clinic, which means faster treatment times, a reduction in waiting lists and an NHS fit for the future.
Improving access to NHS dentists in Norwich and the wider region has been at the forefront of my campaigning efforts recently, as constituents continue to tell me how hard it is to see a dentist. That's why I am pleased to support the University of East Anglia (UEA) in their bid to establish an undergraduate dental school in East Anglia. A local centre for dentistry will bring more dentists to Norwich and Norfolk leading to improvements in oral health for both adults and children.
You can find the NHS plan here.
Read the Government's response to the plan
Read about UEA's bid for a dental school
If I can assist any Norwich North constituent with a health-related concern, please do contact me on:
email: chloe@chloesmith.org.uk or telephone: 01603 414756
