The National Health Service (NHS) in England, on Friday, made public its plan to engage over 300,000 doctors, nurses and other health personnel to address the continuing shortage of health workers in the sector.
At its 75th anniversary on Wednesday, the NHS which is publicly funded in England, disclosed that it was experiencing an estimated shortfall of workforce put at 360,000 by 2037.
According to the body, the shortfall was caused by lack of domestically trained health workers, an aging population and difficulties in retaining existing staff.
Feelers indicated that the government’s long-term workforce plan would include a reduction in the duration of training doctors in the medical school as well as training additional homegrown staff.
“In the coming years, we will train twice the number of doctors and an extra 24,000 more nurses a year, helping to cut waiting lists and improve and improve patient care.
“We will do more to retain our brilliant NHS staff and reform the way the health system works to ensure it is feat for the future.
“On the 75 anniversary of our health service, this government is making the largest single expansion in NHS education and training in its history,” the UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak said.
Currently, England NHS reportedly has 112,000 vacancies, even as it is grappling to replace the huge number of workers leaving the service.
In the last one year, the NHS has reportedly witnessed a pocket of strikes ascribable to complaints by staff that are allegedly being underpaid but overworked in the bid to clean out the accumulation caused by the Covid-19 lockdowns.
The government revealed that additional 60,000 doctors, 170,000 nurses and 71,000 more health professionals would be needed in the NHS by 2037.
“As we look to adapt to new and rising demand for health services globally, this long-term blueprint is the first step in a major and much-needed expansion of our workforce to ensure we have the staff we need to deliver to our patients.
“The publication of our first-ever NHS long-plan now gives us a once-in-a generation opportunity to put staffing on sustainable footing for the years to come,” NHS England chief executive, Amanda Pritchard said.