NHS and social care workforce planning is a “joke,” says former health secretary

The government’s decision not to publish precise figures on what workforce numbers are needed in coming years for the NHS and social care means that current workforce planning is a “joke,” according to former health secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Hunt, Conservative MP for South West Surrey and now chair of the parliamentary health and social care committee, voiced this opinion during an evidence session held on 24 February for the committee’s inquiry into workforce burnout and resilience in the NHS and social care.

In a recent interview with The BMJ,1 Hunt spoke of his frustration over workforce planning, saying that the current approach to staffing increases being negotiated between the Treasury and the Department of Health and Social Care around spending reviews should be changed.

Shortly after the evidence session, …