The NHS is issuing a desperate plea for volunteers to help tackle its record treatment backlog amid an ongoing staffing crisis.
NHS England is calling on people to sign up as an “NHS reservist” to help bolster staff numbers as the service struggles with around 100,000 vacancies.
The new programme is not just aimed at former health professionals but also people with no experience of healthcare work.
Thousands of people will be paid for their help and will be expected to work around 30 days of the year.
Roles will vary depending on experience but work could include helping people who are being discharged from hospital or playing a role in the Covid-19 vaccination programme.
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: “Along with the whole country NHS staff have had a challenging few years.
“They have worked incredibly hard to care for over 600,000 people in hospital with Covid, kept routine services going for people who needed them and helped the entire country get back to normal with the successful rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.
“Their outstanding work has rightly inspired thousands of people who want to join us in delivering care for millions of people, which is why we are introducing this new drive for NHS reservists.
“Reservists will help us in our time of need but also help those who want a rewarding career in the health service - the roles are flexible and can fit around your lifestyle.
“The challenges for the NHS are far from over. As we now pull out all the stops to recover services, we once again need the public’s support.”
The recruitment programme was announced on Tuesday by Ms Pritchard as she addressed the Nuffield Trust Summit Series event on healthcare.
She told delegates that addressing workforce issues was a “critical” part of the NHS achieving its long-term aims.
“We’ve got more staff than we have ever had before but we also have more demand than we ever have before,” she said.
Training will be provided and people who have never worked in health services will be given the chance to shadow someone already performing the role they are assigned to.
It comes as the Government has delayed announcing a workforce strategy that will show how it will pay for enough staff to help the NHS recover from the pandemic.
It has also voted down an amendment to the Health and Care Act that would require the NHS to commission independent forecasts to calculate staffing need.
The Health Foundation predicts a million extra health and care staff will be needed by 2031 to cater for our aging population.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, said: “The Government’s response is to keep pointing to record numbers of doctors and nurses in the NHS workforce.
“But demand for health and care is growing rapidly and without a proper, rigorous, long term workforce plan, we simply do not know how many extra staff we will need.
“That’s why 100 different health and care organisations and former NHS leaders such as Jeremy Hunt, Simon Stevens and Dido Harding are adamant that the NHS desperately needs a long term workforce plan.
“But the Government is still, stubbornly, refusing to accept this.
“This is incredibly short sighted. It is forcing the NHS to spend billions of pounds on agency and locum staff every year when we could be investing in growing the larger, permanent, workforce we desperately need.
“We are now in an extraordinary position where the NHS is calling for a long term workforce plan to increase taxpayer value for money but the Treasury is refusing.”
