Centre to provide workforce plans

Future nursing workforce planning is to be carried out by a newly created Centre of Excellence.

The centre, to be run by academics but ultimately answerable to the Department of Health, will provide forecasting intelligence on future nursing workforce requirements to strategic health authorities, PCTs and other relevant organisations.

'It will be hosted by one or more universities, with long-term horizon scanning, capability and capacity development for workforce planning functions, and the development of technical planning assumptions,' the report says.

A series of professional advisory boards, including one for nursing, will provide the centre with workforce information relating to their particular group.