- Procuring services Workforce planning
Workforce planning
NHS England expects ICBs to work together to have a comprehensive and consistent plan for developing staff. It is important that workforce development plans are system-wide.
In the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, NHS England recommends that, most urgently, ICBs and wider system partners prioritise actions that drive recruitment and retention of their one workforce across health and care.
In carrying out their people function, ICBs can develop actions plans to make sure children and young people with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions and their families are well supported by children and young people’s palliative and end of life care professionals. People plans and people promises can include action to supplyf sufficient professionals with the skills and experience needed to provide palliative and end of life care to children, young people and families.
Statutory, voluntary and independent sector providers are involved in enabling seriously ill children and young people to access the palliative and end of life care they need. ICBs may wish to ensure sustainable children and young people’s palliative and end of life care workforces across all of these sectors.
Specific skills are needed when speaking to children and families about the choices available to them and developing advance care plans with them. The following resources recommend how multidisciplinary children and young people’s palliative care teams should be comprised:
- NHS England National Service Specification and Guidance for Children and Young People’s Palliative and End of Life Care
- National Institute of Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) Quality Standard for End of life care for infants, children and young people [QS160]
- NICE Guidance NG 61: End of life care for infants, children and young people with life-limiting conditions: planning and management
ICBs may wish to consider The Children and young people’s palliative and end of life care Education and Training UK and Ireland Action Group’s Education Standard Framework, which provides an approach to educating and training children and young people’s palliative and end of life care professionals in the UK.
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health set out the components of education and sub-speciality training for specialist paediatric palliative care consultants.
Children and young people’s palliative and end of life care is included within existing Nursing and Midwifery Council regulations.