Budget and NHS long-term plan inquiry: written evidence

The implementation of the NHS Long-term Plan depends not only on the 5-year funding settlement for NHS England announced in June 2018, but also on the funding settlements covering NHS capital, education and training, social care and public health. A detailed national implementation programme, due this autumn (2019), was intended to take account of decisions made on these four areas in the Government's Spending Review. The Spending Review has been delayed due to Brexit and the change in Prime Minister and there is currently no indication of when it will take place or the time period it will cover.

In this inquiry, the Committee invited written submissions on: 

• the funding needed in each of these four key areas to support the NHS Long-term Plan

• the potential impact on the implementation of the Plan of a failure to provide the necessary funding in these areas

• the impact on the wider economy and other public services of investment in these four areas.

We have focused our response on education and training, making the point that a skilled workforce will be a key enabler of successfully delivering the Long Term Plan. Our response builds on key messages from previous CPSA submissions to consultations about the NHS Long-Term Plan and HEE workforce strategy. In this response, we recommend investment in three high priority areas of education and training:

• Upskilling the whole workforce in the safe and effective use of medicines, as part of a systems approach to improved efficiency and patient outcomes

• Implementation of genomic testing and pharmacogenomics across the NHS

• Building research capacity in the NHS, to ensure a ‘research ready’ workforce which benefits patient outcomes and the UK economy