Received from: College of Podiatry, RCM
Comprising of Motions 42, 43 and 44 plus amendments
Congress welcomes the ambition of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan but warns it will not succeed unless the government takes immediate action to retain existing staff. The NHS faces over 121,000 vacancies in England alone. Poor pay, work-related stress, and limited progression opportunities continue to drive staff out of the service, undermining delivery of the 10-year plan.
The government’s 10-year plan rightly highlights the need for the NHS to focus more on prevention to reduce demand on acute services. The ambition to prevent illness and tackle inequality must be matched with the investment, workforce planning and infrastructure needed to deliver it. Many of the services mentioned, from personalised care planning to community rehabilitation, require a properly resourced dietetic workforce. Yet right now, vacancies across the profession remain high, and there is insufficient capacity in many areas to meet existing demand, let alone expand provision.
Workforce retention must be a national priority. The latest NHS Staff Survey showed 44.8 per cent of respondents had felt unwell due to work-related stress. Over the past 16 years, many NHS staff have seen a real-terms loss exceeding 20 per cent, fuelling record vacancies and undermining safe staffing.
Congress welcomes that:
i. places on UK midwifery courses have risen, increasing the domestic supply of midwives
ii. we are seeing more midwives in post, as increasing numbers qualify from these courses.
However, Congress is concerned at the findings of a UK-wide RCM survey, from May, of its final-year midwifery student members, that 84 per cent were not confident of securing a job as a midwife post-qualification. Congress resolves to support the RCM’s work for properly staffed maternity services in all parts of the UK.
Congress notes with concern the growing pressures on university finances and the serious impact this is having on their capacity to deliver sufficient courses for allied health professionals (AHPs), including podiatrists.
AHPs are ideally placed to deliver this preventative agenda, yet funding for those wishing to train in these critical roles, including through apprenticeships, is being cut. This makes it increasingly difficult for prospective students to access courses, undermining the workforce pipeline. When AHP students are able to graduate, they are now facing widespread recruitment freezes and delays in filling vacancies.
Smaller professions such as podiatry are disproportionately affected. As a field already experiencing a worrying decline in numbers, the continued erosion of training opportunities will have devastating consequences for patient care, particularly in areas like diabetes management, falls prevention and maintaining mobility and independence.
Congress notes that:
a. many midwifery students across the UK face significant financial hardship
b. fatigue and burnout caused by staff shortages undermine safety
c. NHS midwives and maternity support workers across the UK work an estimated 140,000 unpaid hours’ overtime per week, according to 2024 Royal College of Midwives (RCM) surveys.
Many student midwives take on large amounts of debt to support themselves during their studies and that UK health services invest in them through clinical placements, and all that is for nothing if, faced with no offer of midwifery employment, newly qualified midwives start working in unrelated jobs out of financial necessity.
We call on Congress to support efforts to secure sustainable funding for universities and for AHP education. We also call for increased bursaries, grants and apprenticeship support to remove financial barriers for those wishing to pursue these essential careers.
We call on the government to urgently intervene before long-term damage is done. We urge the TUC to work with health unions, professional bodies and student organisations to lobby the government to safeguard and expand training places, ensuring our communities continue to benefit from high-quality, preventative healthcare delivered by well-trained AHPs
Congress calls on the UK government to:
1. commit to a funded strategy for fair, above-inflation pay and restore NHS pay to competitive levels
2. ensure healthcare workforce planning is improved to avoid stop-start training and recruitment
3. remove barriers to career progression across Agenda for Change, including for allied health professionals
4. embed flexible working, CPD access, and wellbeing support to reduce burnout and improve job satisfaction
5. engage in meaningful consultation with recognised trade unions during the implementation of the 10-year plan whilst retaining experienced staff across the NHS
6. ensure that shift of focus from sickness to prevention is properly funded and utilises the skills of the whole NHS workforce and improve working lives
7. implement the recommendations of the RCM’s 2024 State of UK Midwifery Student Finance report
8. ensure that all newly qualified midwives are offered employment as midwives.
Mover: Royal College of Midwives
Seconder: Royal College of Podiatry
Supporters: British Dietetic Association, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy