Advocacy and Campaigns April 2021 update

Advocacy and Campaigns August 2021 update

Advocacy and Campaigns August 2021 update

Wednesday 1 September 2021

Health and Care Bill

Continuing the Association’s work on engaging with the wide-reaching reforms to the NHS in England, the Advocacy and Campaigns Team have facilitated a submission to the House of Commons’ ‘Public Bill Committee’ – a committee where MPs scrutinise legislation line-by-line, and organisations are able to submit evidence, including suggesting amendments to the legislation.

Emphasis was also placed on the need for a more transparent, resilient, and environmentally-friendly procurement system than what is currently being considered.

The Association’s submission included supporting and suggesting amendments to strengthen commitments within the Bill regarding workforce planning. This is in order to ultimately increase recruitment and retention within the specialty and the wider health system. Emphasis was also placed on the need for a more transparent, resilient, and environmentally-friendly procurement system than what is currently being considered.

After the Public Bill Committee, the Bill goes through additional stages in the Commons and the Lords. The team will be following the Bill closely and will continue to use these opportunities to advocate on behalf of members.

Consultations

Along with the UK Parliament’s inquiry into the elective care backlog, the team are facilitating an Association submission to Health Education England’s call for evidence to inform their refreshed 15-year workforce planning strategy. We hope to highlight the concerns of the anaesthesia workforce, particularly in the need to increase and improve recruitment and retention.

New Chief Executive of NHS England

The Association has welcomed and congratulated the new Chief Executive of NHS England, Amanda Pritchard. Previously serving the NHS as its Chief Operating Officer, and before that as Chief Executive of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, the Association has invited her to work with us on workforce planning, fatigue, wellbeing, environmental sustainability, and other concerns. We will continue to engage with Ms Pritchard on these and other important matters.

Party Conferences

The Advocacy and Campaigns team will be closely monitoring and attending political party conferences over the next couple of months. This is in order for us to engage and gather insight into the latest health-related policy developments and build key relationships with political and sectoral stakeholders.

Meetings

The team continue to identify and support meetings between the Association and parliamentarians to increase our visibility and further our campaigns objectives. Upcoming meetings include party health spokespeople for Plaid Cymru, Scottish Labour, and the Scottish Conservatives.

If you are interested to hear more about any of the above pieces of work, or have any questions, please do get in touch with Colton Richards, Advocacy and Campaigns Manager: [email protected]

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