Health secretary must include rehab workforce in NHS staffing strategy

With the NHS facing further unprecedented pressure this winter, the eagerly-anticipated workforce strategy on how to staff it must take specific account of the rehabilitation workforce needed. That's the message from the CSP, as well as more than 30 charities and professional bodies, who make up more than half of the Community Rehabilitation Alliance.

In the letter to the health secretary, Steve Barclay (which can be downloaded below), alliance members have sought to impress upon him how timely access to rehabilitation remains the critical missing piece in tackling many of the urgent problems facing the health and social care system.

The letter says: 'we recommend specific inclusion of the rehabilitation workforce needed to tackle patient flow and the elective backlog - reducing the revolving door into GP, A&E and social care services, and getting the nation back to work.'

With demand for rehabilitation growing,  so to must the workforce specifically trained in how to deliver rehabilitation, yet the number one problem for rehabilitation services is insufficient staffing.

The letter again highlights how improved access to rehabilitation in the community, closer to where people live, has a ripple effect back through the NHS system, impacting the situation at A&E as well as hospital discharge.