My Lords, I make no apology for repeating my firm belief that the staff working in our NHS and public health system are the health service’s most precious resource. We must do all we can to ensure that staff have and continue to have the right values, training and skills to deliver the very highest quality of care for patients.
Clause 93 requires local education and training boards to publish an education and training plan for each financial year. The education and training plan must set out the local education and training board’s proposed investment in its current and future workforce for the following year. Note the word “current” in this context. In developing an education and training plan, the Bill makes clear that a local education and training board must consult with and have regard to the local priorities of, among others, the NHS and health providers and the commissioners that it represents.
The noble Lord, Lord Patel, asked what level of funding is attached to CPD in the NHS. The answer is that investment in CPD is really a decision to be taken locally. As I indicated, local providers and commissioners are best placed to decide what ongoing professional development their staff need. It will be their job to feed that in to the LETB as the local education and training plan is developed. I have already spoken in reply to an earlier group of amendments about the importance of continuing professional development, and the leadership role that Health Education England and local education and training boards can play in supporting this.
The noble Lord, Lord Patel, and the noble Baroness, Lady Wheeler, asked what happened to the reference to CPD in the draft Bill. The answer is that we widened the description in Clause 84(6) so that the Bill states that:
“HEE may, with the consent of the Secretary of State, carry out other activities relating to … education and training for health care workers”.
This still very much includes CPD. I emphasise that that we consider this to be an important part of the way HEE may exercise this power. The NHS constitution sets out that staff can expect employers to invest in their development, and that all healthcare providers must take this issue seriously. Employers have a clear responsibility to provide their staff with the support and personal development they need, as well as access to appropriate training to enable them to fulfil their duties. However, Health Education England will play a crucial role in providing leadership in supporting employers in this area. The mandate sets out that Health Education England will work with LETBs and healthcare providers and commissioners to ensure that professional and personal development continues beyond the end of formal training to enable staff to deliver safe and high-quality health and public health services, for now and in the future.
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My noble friend Lord Ribeiro asked whether we were considering peer-to-peer visits to educational centres. I think I will have to give him a somewhat generalised answer. As commissioners of education and training, both HEE and the LETBs will work with education providers, service providers and professional regulators to ensure that the education and training provided by education institutions continually improves and delivers programmes that are fit for purpose. I have no doubt that my noble friend’s suggestion will be considered in that context.
It is worth observing, as the noble Lord, Lord Turnberg, rightly pointed out, that the introduction of revalidation at the end of 2012 has placed an increased emphasis on doctors’ CPD activity as a means of demonstrating that they remain up to date and fit to practise throughout their careers.
I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Patel, will accept what I have said as at least some measure of reassurance, if not a full measure, that Health Education England and local education and training boards will work closely with healthcare providers to ensure that in planning education and training, there is adequate provision of continuing professional development of healthcare workers.