MPs to examine how to end staff drain in health and social care

An inquiry has been launched to look at the reasons behind staff leaving the health and social care sectors and how to tackle the problems.

Workforce recruitment and training will also be explored by the health and social care committee. The inquiry builds on recommendations of its previous reports, Social care: funding and workforce published last year and Workforce burnout and resilience in the NHS and social care in June.

The committee said evidence pointed to poor workforce planning, weak policy and fragmented responsibilities as contributing to problems.

Solutions covering social care could look at the ideal balance between the domestic and international recruitment of workers.

‘We are facing a workforce crisis in health and social care of such proportions that it risks undermining every plan to tackle the backlog, meet the demands of an ageing population, and fix social care,’ said committee chair Jeremy Hunt MP.

Evidence should be submitted by Wednesday 19 January.