Responding to the new Darzi Review into NHS England, Ed Hughes, CEO of the Council of Deans of Health said:
“The Darzi Review clearly sets out the serious challenges facing the NHS. The Council of Deans of Health, and our members, who educate the country’s future nurses, midwives and allied health professionals, are committed to working with NHS England and the Government to fix its problems and set it up on a sustainable footing.
Aside from the future workforce, universities and colleges have a key role to play in the continued development and retention of existing NHS staff; engaging them in the latest approaches to healthcare, updating understanding of ever-evolving new technologies and providing routes to progression for lifelong careers of service.
We welcome the emphasis on bringing together research and practice, the recognition of the importance of clinical academic roles and the move towards multidisciplinary team working. These are key drivers for the future health workforce which our members already support. Similarly, the Council has long championed the growth of community and primary care settings for healthcare education placements as a means of exposing students to the wide-range of roles and settings in which they can apply their professional education and skills.
Whilst the Darzi review focusses on the identifying the problems within the NHS, the solutions to its problems will be found through a coordinated response from many sectors, including the education sector, to develop the new 10-year-plan, which we hope will bring clarity on the size and shape of the future workforce. Reforming the NHS is a cross-government mission and we look forward to playing our part in that alongside government and the NHS, so that together we can bring about the changes needed for a thriving NHS.”