The five-year programme will focus specifically on primary care and maternity services in remote and deprived areas, where workforce sustainability problems are most acute. It aims to improve working environments, create a more stable healthcare workforce, and enhance care for patients.
The NDPCHS Workforce and Learning Research Group are working with the Newcastle University, Northumbria, Birmingham and York universities on this £5m National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded Workforce Research Partnership (WRP) to address pressing issues in healthcare recruitment and retention.
Professor Sophie Park from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, who is leading the realist review workstream for this project said: ‘This collaboration represents a significant opportunity to address some of the most pressing workforce challenges facing our healthcare system today. In Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, we're particularly excited to bring our expertise in primary care realist research and co-production. We will work in partnership with community stakeholders and public to identify, address and co-develop sustainable solutions that work for both healthcare professionals and the communities they seek to serve. By focusing on underserved areas, we can ensure our research addresses the key priorities of those working with patients in areas of deprivation and inequality, to benefit those most in need of workforce stability and improved access to care.’
The initiative comes at a critical time for UK health and social care services, which currently face workforce challenges in primary care, alongside over 106,000 unfilled posts in secondary care and 131,000 vacancies in the social care sector.
The research team will work directly with healthcare staff and patients to identify necessary changes and design improvements to systems, processes, and policies. Their approach emphasizes co-design, ensuring that the voices of frontline workers and service users remain central to shaping research priorities and solutions. The project will build on a recent realist review conducted by Prof. Sophie Park and team about GP Workforce Sustainability. This School of Primary Care Research (SPRC) funded review identified system-level ways in which the nature of GP work can be optimised to support GP retention, recruitment and meaningful engagement in work. The WFP project will explore with patients, carers and workforce stakeholders including deep end clinical communities, how the realist review findings can be implemented to inform and improve existing challenges.
Further realist reviews conducted during the WFP project will seek to address issues identified through community and stakeholder engagement, as well as collaborating to find areas where identified evidence can support or improve workforce challenges. Dr Bryan Burford, Senior Lecturer at Newcastle University and co-lead of the partnership, explained: "Rather than asking people to fit into a system they don't want to work in, we are looking to improve the system so that people want to work in it."
The Newcastle-led WRP is one of five such partnerships funded by the NIHR as part of a wider £24m investment across England. Together, these partnerships will develop and test innovations to improve healthcare services by addressing workplace stress, high staff turnover, inequitable care and other challenges affecting workforce sustainability.
Findings from the research will be shared with practitioners, managers, public and policymakers to drive meaningful change in healthcare workforce planning and organization. The partnership aims to create more stable working environments and practices, while potentially reducing NHS costs associated with recruitment and agency staffing.
Professor Lucy Chappell, NIHR Chief Executive, and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Health and Social Care, said: “Staff are the backbone of our health and care system. The NIHR is stepping up to fund high-quality research to understand our workforce needs better.
“These new landmark research partnerships will generate crucial new research across a range of projects to help improve the quality, organisation and retention of teams, which will in turn improve the quality of care they provide.”