July 2026
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This conference examined next steps for the healthcare workforce in England. The agenda focused on the forthcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan and how it may need to respond to the shift towards more community-based care, stronger prevention and greater digital capability outlined in the Government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England.
It brought together key stakeholders and policymakers to discuss priorities for implementation, modelling, delivery and accountability - alongside implications for workforce strategy, service planning, training and leadership as reform is taken forward.
Delegates considered what a credible workforce model will need to look like if it is to effectively support neighbourhood health services, respond to changing population need, and provide clarity for employers, professional bodies, training providers and others involved in planning and delivery. We expected discussion to reflect questions raised by stakeholders around capacity for delivering community services and training pathways that will be required, workforce retention strategies, and assumptions underpinning long-term workforce projections and planning decisions.
Workforce capacity, training pathways & community care delivery
Sessions assessed practical options for securing the skills mix, education pathways and workforce distribution needed to support service reconfiguration, including the shift towards delivering care closer to home.
Attendees considered options for advancing community placements, apprenticeships, modular training routes and continuous learning, alongside approaches to developing effective personalised career coaching and development plans. Delegates also discussed the evidence, data and modelling needed to inform decisions on workforce numbers, specialist demand and regional capacity required to support the scale of community care.
Further practical enablers were also considered, including equipping staff to work effectively as part of multidisciplinary teams and frameworks to support closer working across hospital, primary care and community health services. Discussion also looked at how community settings can become more attractive career options for the workforce, including opportunities to strengthen pay progression and career pathways in community roles alongside those available in acute settings.
Accountability, workforce data & digital capability
Sessions examined questions of accountability and implementation. Areas for discussion included the monitoring of progress over time, evidence and data analysis to support long‑term workforce planning, and how workforce strategy can align more effectively with social care, public health and local service delivery. With concerns raised by stakeholders around community nursing capacity, training pressures and the practicalities of changing roles across settings, delegates also assessed what a workable transition towards neighbourhood and community services is likely to require from local coordination, supervision and support.
Delegates also considered priorities for embedding digital and data capabilities into workforce development, including strategies for integrating AI processes safely and effectively. Discussion looked into what may be needed to develop supportive learning pathways, how examples of effective practice can be more widely shared and implemented, and options for developing standard core competencies to support workforce‑driven digital transformation.
Recruitment, retention & workforce leadership
Further discussion examined priorities for strengthening recruitment and retention across the healthcare workforce, including ways forward for building a resilient domestic pipeline, addressing regional disparities in staffing, and tackling persistent shortages in hard-to-fill roles. Attendees considered drivers of early‑career attrition and the importance of embedding long‑term wellbeing within workforce development pathways, including addressing the impact of how career progression, access to high‑quality supervision and the management of workload influence staff experience, morale and retention.
Discussion was also expected on options for the workforce strategy to respond to the wider employment context. Areas for discussion included issues around safe staffing expectations, industrial relations and changing patterns of flexible working. Delegates considered approaches that may be needed to reduce reliance on international recruitment while maintaining service capacity and fairness in workforce supply, amidst concerns from some that government plans to reduce international recruitment to around 10% by 2035 may prove difficult to achieve.
The agenda also looked at next steps for physician associates and anaesthesia associates following the Government’s acceptance of recommendations in the independent review led by Professor Gillian Leng, particularly in relation to calls from some stakeholders for greater clarity on scope of practice, supervision, governance and supporting public confidence. Sessions also looked at leadership and organisational culture, including proposals for manager standards and regulation, and the development of the College of Executive and Clinical Leadership.
As well as key stakeholders, those attending included officials from the Department of Health and Social Care; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology; Care Quality Commission; UK Health Security Agency; Health and Safety Executive; Department of Health, NI; and The Scottish Government.
