Recent policies and initiatives have put more emphasis on (integrated) workforce planning and workforce development, supported by new structures, such as the Workforce Development Confederations which have become part of Strategic Health Authorities.  As a result, qualifications, skills and training are high on the agenda. 

Demand for skills has been influenced by the new NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework, broadly consistent with existing competency frameworks.  It specifies the knowledge and skills individuals will need for a particular NHS post at the time of the appointment and for any promotions.  As a consequence, there has been an increase of take-ups in S/NVQs, not only within the NHS, but also in the private sector suggesting individuals may want to be able to move between the two sectors.
 
A new concept, called the Skills Escalator, should enable NHS staff to develop their careers within the NHS.  For more information on the NHS Skills Escalator go to the Department for Health website. This might also help to attract more staff into the NHS, including socially disadvantaged groups.

The sector has identified the following skills requirements:

• IT skills 
• leadership
• team working and multi-disciplinary learning
• generic management skills
• partnership working
• costumer focus
• managing diversity
• communication skills
• adult basic skills

Higher education institutions will need to put more emphasis on inter-professional training and communication skills to facilitate team-working and to deliver patient-centred services.

Source: Kendall and Lissauer 2003

Due to changes in health care delivery and changes in skill mix changes are likely to occur in the future.  Stakeholders expect an increased demand for vocational qualifications below degree level.

A high proportion of the health sector workforce is highly skilled compared to other parts of the economy because there is a high share of occupations requiring degree level entry (such as medical practitioners, radiographers, occupational therapists or biomedical scientists).

Among the nursing workforce, nursing or other non-medical qualifications below degree level dominate, with degree level qualifications having increased to 18% over the years.  Nursing auxiliaries and assistants as well as care assistants and home carers mainly hold GCSE or equivalent qualifications or NVQ qualifications.

Source: Skills for Health 2006, Skills for Health 2005 and Skills for Health/SQW 2005

For data on the qualification level of the workforce see:

Compared to the whole economy in England (47%), more people employed in the health care sector receive off-the-job training (75%) and most of the training is job-specific.  The majority of NHS staff had taken part in some form of training, learning and development (in the last 12 months), which was supported by the employer, with taught courses featuring most prominently (67%), and followed by supervised on the job training (31%).

Most staff have also experienced some difficulties in obtaining training, mainly resulting from: difficulties in getting released for training; inconvenient schedules for training provision; or lack of funding.

Some staff groups, such as nursing auxiliaries and assistants in comparison to registered nurses and part-time staff, were more likely to miss out on training than other groups.  Staff groups registered with professional bodies are mainly trained at higher education institutions, whereas most training for other staff groups is delivered through further education and in-house training.

Training will continue to be key to delivering the government’s NHS modernisation agenda.

Source: Healthcare Commission 2006, SSDA/Skills for Health 2004 and Audit Commission 2001

A large-scale survey among women dentists revealed that the number of undergraduates who received career advice has increased dramatically.  Over the last decade, around 80% in the 2000 graduate cohort had received career guidance, but about half those who had career guidance rated is as ‘not’ or ‘not very useful’.

There is anecdotal evidence that career guidance in smaller occupational health care groups, such as biochemistry and radiography needs to be improved at school and in later stages of people’s career to address staff shortages and to provide effective guidance.

There is also anecdotal evidence, in England, that in some disciplines (physiotherapy and nursing locally) new graduates may have difficulties in finding a job in the NHS.

Source: Skills for Health 2005