TO BE PUBLISHED July 2026
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This conference will examine priorities for the healthcare workforce in England, following the expected publication of the 10 Year Workforce Plan. It will focus on what will be needed from workforce strategy, service planning, training and leadership to support NHS reform in practice, including the shift towards more community-based care, stronger prevention, and greater digital capability.
The discussion will bring together key stakeholders and policymakers to assess next steps arising from the Government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future and the forthcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan, at a point when questions around implementation, modelling, delivery and accountability are becoming more immediate.
Delegates will consider what a credible workforce model will need to look like if it is to support neighbourhood health services, respond to changing population need, and give greater clarity to employers, professional bodies, training providers and others involved in planning and delivery.
Skills, career pathways & monitoring progress
The agenda will assess practical options for securing the skills mix, education pathways and workforce distribution needed to support service reconfiguration, including the move towards care closer to home. Attendees will consider what this means for community placements, apprenticeships, modular training routes and continuous learning, as well as the evidence, data and modelling needed to inform decisions on workforce numbers, specialist demand and regional capacity.
Sessions will examine questions of accountability and implementation. Areas for discussion include how progress should be monitored over time, what assumptions should sit behind demand and productivity planning, and how workforce strategy can align more effectively with social care, public health and local service delivery. With stakeholder concern in some areas around community nursing capacity, training pressures and the practicalities of shifting roles across settings, delegates will also assess what a workable transition towards neighbourhood and community services is likely to require from local coordination, supervision and support.
Recruitment, retention, workforce roles & leadership
Further discussion will examine priorities for recruitment and retention, including domestic pipeline resilience, regional distribution, hard-to-fill roles, early-career attrition, staff wellbeing, and the relationship between progression, supervision, workload and staff experience. We expect a focus on how workforce strategy should respond to the wider employment context - including safe staffing, industrial relations and changing expectations around flexible working - as well as what approaches may be needed to reduce reliance on international recruitment while maintaining service capacity and fairness in workforce supply.
The agenda will also consider next steps for physician associates and anaesthesia associates following the Government’s acceptance of the recommendations in the independent review led by Professor Gillian Leng, particularly in relation to scope of practice, supervision, governance and public confidence. Sessions also will look at leadership and organisational culture, including proposals for manager standards and regulation, the development of the College of Executive and Clinical Leadership, and what will be needed from management capability, accountability and digital upskilling to support reform across the NHS.
