Delayed workforce strategy now expected in 2027
Artificial intelligence could reduce staffing requirements in some parts of the NHS while increasing demand elsewhere, the Health Secretary has told MPs, as the government reassesses its long-term workforce plans.
Giving evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee on 4 November, Yvette Cooper said the workforce plan is now expected in the New Year. She identified rapid technological change as a source of uncertainty over the staff and specialties the NHS will need. “That will lead to us wanting to increase certain areas, but also potentially to reduce certain areas too,” she says.
She also pointed to unmet demand for speech and language therapists and the ambition to expand community services. Long-term planning remains necessary, she said, given the time required to train doctors. One option under consideration is to give training providers clearer indications of the areas where staffing must grow while further modelling continues.
The discussion comes as NHS organisations move beyond small-scale experiments with AI documentation tools. Ambient voice technology, which converts consultation conversations into draft notes, is already part of national efforts to improve productivity.
NHS England’s guidance directs organisations towards wider adoption, supported by regional funding. Its published account of a major NHS-sponsored study reports a 23.5 per cent increase in direct patient interaction time during appointments and an 8.2 per cent reduction in appointment length when AI scribes were used.
These findings show how clinical time is used but do not establish how many staff a service could safely operate with. Turning time savings into workforce projections requires a further judgement about how services will use the capacity released.
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