Workforce and training updates - January 2023

Wellbeing Hubs

The forty Wellbeing Hubs for staff that were funded as a pilot project by NHSE across England are unclear about where the funding will come from post March 2023. There are uncertainties about whether NHSE will continue to provide funding, or this will be picked up by the ICSs. The Hubs have proved very successful in supporting staff and have been independently evaluated. The BPS has taken the lead, working with the Hub Leads and the ACP-UK, to write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to urge him to end the funding uncertainty and to maintain this vital service for staff. With all the pressures on staff and the significant Staf retention concerns this is not the time to let this service wither through lack of clarity about funding.

Scottish Government Consultation

The Scottish Government's consultation on the draft Specification for Psychological Therapies and Interventions: Delivery of psychological therapies and interventions: national specification - Scottish Government - Citizen Space (consult.gov.scot) has been launched. The consultation is live will remain so until Friday 17 March 2023. Please note that we have extended the normal consultation period beyond 12 weeks to take into account that this is a busy time of year for people and services.  We also plan to do some engagement directly with services, the workforce and with people with lived experience throughout the period. For those wishing to contribute to the BPS/DCP response please contact Hannah Randle at the BPS.

Clinical Psychology Training Commissions: Tendering

The tendering of training in England has now been completed and the work on delivery of the already commissioned significant increase in training numbers well underway. There will, in the New Year, be a retendering and recommissioning process in both Scotland and Wales. This will involve a good deal of work for all concerned and we will keep you updated on progress.

Revised Taxonomy for the Psychological Professions in England

The development of a revised Psychological Professions taxonomy has been presented to the National Psychological Professions Workforce Advisory Stakeholder Group and shows an increase in the number of Psychological Professions from the original twelve to twenty. This now includes Art, Drama and Music Therapists who remain in the National Allied Health Professional grouping but are now recognised as Psychological Professionals as well within the taxonomy. The taxonomy also includes both Clinical Associate Psychologists (CAPs) and Psychology Assistants.

Physical Health Care Workforce survey and Governance paper

The data from survey is now in with a good response rate. We are in the process of analysing the data. Highlights: there looks like a doubling of the workforce since 2015 and a much higher proportion of psychological professionals who are directly employed by Acute Trusts as opposed to Mental Health Trusts in England.

The Physical Healthcare group, who have organised the survey, are also producing a document providing "Guidance for Employing Psychologists in Physical Healthcare Settings". This guidance is being produced because much of the growth in psychological provision in physical healthcare has been organic, strategically uncoordinated ,developing from local demand  and sometimes starting with local funding or arising from successful pilot studies. Employment structures sometimes mirror these ad hoc circumstances.  Within psychology, the workforce growth in this area could benefit from more co-ordination around workforce planning, clinical governance frameworks, recruitment, and training.