Winter planning: tackle workforce strain in urgent and emergency care

Iacobucci’s article highlights NHS plans to prepare for the winter and tackle urgent and emergency care (UEC) challenges. The plans fail, however, to confront the impact these measures might have on the already strained workforce.1For several years the NHS has grappled with chronic staffing problems, exacerbated by escalating sickness absence rates among UEC staff. While the UEC delivery plan emphasises the addition of permanent care beds and virtual ward beds to increase capacity,2 it does not elaborate on the staffing of these facilities. The absence of a strategy for recruiting and retaining hospital based healthcare professionals could result in existing staff managing a larger number of patient beds, potentially exacerbating burnout and strain.Between September 2019 and September 2022, the rate of those leaving the paramedic service has seen a significant increase, from 5.9% to 8.1%.2 Additionally, sickness rates among ambulance staff have surged, from 5% in March 2019 to 9%…
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