Hancock: ‘busting bureaucracy’ will help NHS staff

Matt Hancock has launched a “bureaucracy busting call for evidence” from healthcare staff, alongside publication of part of the long-awaited NHS People Plan.

In a speech today, the health and social care secretary will call on the workforce to share which “rules and regulations could be amended”, so staff can “spend less time on paperwork and more time with their patients”.

It coincides with the next installment of the People Plan document this morning, which will detail measures designed to boost recruitment, retention, and staff wellbeing, as well as addressing “new pandemic challenges”.

They include a £10m fund for clinical placements for nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals, along with an increase of 5,000 undergraduate places from September 2020. There will be training grants for 350 nurses to become cancer or chemotherapy specialists.

“The People Plan and a new ‘bureaucracy busting’ call for evidence will work together to find and promote positive changes made before and during the pandemic,” according to a statement from the Department of Health and Social Care.