Two researchers with physiotherapy backgrounds are to play prominent roles in a multidisciplinary team that will focus on making the 14 allied health professions (AHPs) more ‘sustainable and effective’.

They are Kate Grafton, head of the School of Health and Social Care and professor of AHP education at the University of Lincoln, and George Peat, the director of the Centre for Applied Health and Social Care Research and professor of clinical epidemiology at Sheffield Hallam University.

The project, which will have a five-year lifespan, was commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), with details being announced last month. The AHPs Workforce Research Partnership (WRPs) will focus on ‘supporting a sustainable and effective AHPs workforce in rural and coastal regions and in deprived urban areas’. The project has been awarded funds totalling almost £4.5 million.

One of five linked research projects that were unveiled by the NIHR last month, the AHP WRP will be led by Professor Julie Nightingale, professor of Diagnostic Imaging Education at Sheffield Hallam University. She is described as the chief investigator, with professors Grafton and Peat being named as two of the eight co-investigators.

AHPs: ‘short staffed’ and ‘under-researched’

The NIHR pointed out that the AHPs have traditionally been ‘under-researched’, despite making up the third largest group of staff in the NHS in combination. ‘This research has the potential to shape decision making at national and local level, particularly in rural and coastal areas,’ it said in a statement.

The aim of the research, which will be completed by 2030, is to help managers to improve patient care by making sure that staff with the right skills are available when and where they are needed in NHS hospitals, community services, and general practice.

In an abstract published on the NIHR’s website Professor Nightingale and her co-investigators state: ‘We will focus on availability of staff in rural, coastal, and towns where it is hard to get AHPs to work.’

The team notes that AHP services are currently ‘short staffed’ – a situation that is ‘not good for best patient care and increases waiting times’. ‘This means some people can’t get imaging, cancer treatment and rehab when they need it. These shortages also affect the working conditions and wellbeing of AHPs which may make them want to leave the NHS.

‘AHP shortages are worse in rural areas, coastal places, and less well-off communities where it is difficult to attract and keep staff.’

Another concern is that the current AHP workforce does not ‘look like’ the communities it provides care for. ‘There are few males and low numbers of AHPs from ethnic minority groups. We need to do this research because we don’t know how best to fix these problems. Most research that has been done before is about doctors and nurses, not AHPs.’

What makes AHPs want to work, be happy and stay in the NHS?

Sheffield Hallam University (pictured above) will link up with three regional hubs in eastern England: Lincolnshire, East of England and South Yorkshire in the project. Professor Nightingale and the team will work with NHS services in south Yorkshire towns such as Barnsley, and in rural and seaside towns including Grimsby and Clacton-on-Sea.

After conducting some pilot research on how to ‘fix staffing problems’, the team will work with partner bodies and communities to co-design plans that make AHPs want to work, be happy and stay in the NHS. ‘We think they will focus on new ways of training, better ways to keep staff in their jobs at each stage of their career, and how new ways of working could improve patient care.

As well as publishing scientific papers and speaking at local and national conferences and meetings, the team will create a range of tools to disseminate their findings. This will include websites, short and simple videos, and easy to understand pictures and pamphlets.

‘The valuable research generated by these partnerships will help us retain and nurture more staff, turn the tide on recruitment challenges, and deliver even more high-quality health and care to communities throughout England’ [health minister Karin Smyth]

Funding worth £24 million overall

The NIHR will spend a total of £24 million on the five WRPs, which will aim to tackle some of the major challenges facing NHS and social care staff. It stresses that workforce sustainability is a critical area for health and social care services in the UK, where there are 106,432 unfilled posts in secondary care (hospital-based and mental health care), and 131,000 unfilled posts in the social care sector.

The WRPs’ remit is to develop and test innovations to improve the quality of health and social care services – improving staff retention and tackling issues such as workplace stress and high staff turnover.

The partnerships involve 24 universities in England and Wales, five NHS trusts, four councils, and five charities and non-profit organisations. Researchers will work across a wide range of integrated care system regions.

Staff are ‘the backbone’ of the health and social care system

Lucy Chappell, the NIHR’s chief executive who is also the 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.’

Professor Chappell added: ‘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.’

Health minister Karin Smyth said: ‘As we work to rebuild our broken NHS, it is essential we better understand the skills, expertise and aspirations of our amazing health and care workforce.

‘That means making the most of their talents and deploying them where they can be most effective. It also means ensuring the work is enjoyable, meaningful and their wellbeing prioritised in what is, so often, a high-pressured environment.

Ms Smyth added: ‘The valuable research generated by these partnerships will help us retain and nurture more staff, turn the tide on recruitment challenges, and deliver even more high-quality health and care to communities throughout England.’

Improving care for patients

Each WRP is made up of a multidisciplinary team. The teams draw expertise from a range of backgrounds. These include human resources, labour economics, work and wellbeing, management science and organisational psychology.

The NIHR hopes that better workforce planning and organisation will lead to a more stable, healthy workforce, and improve care for patients and service users. It will save money for the NHS and the social care sector by reducing recruitment and agency staff costs and better meet future patient needs.

The research will focus on a range of staff roles, including GPs, health and social care workers and AHPs. But staff groups that are rarely the focus of research will also be included, such as non-clinical and support staff, disabled staff and staff from ethnic minority groups.

There will also be a focus on those working in coastal and rural areas, as well as on services operating in geographical areas of disadvantage and deprivation.

Long term needs-based research

Workforce sustainability is a key area of the NHS Long Term Plan and the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. The NIHR claims that its research returns over £13 to the UK economy for every £1 invested by the taxpayer. This comes from direct health benefits and profits to UK firms undertaking research. There are also economic and social benefits due to stimulating private investment. The partnerships are funded by NIHR’s Health and Social Care Delivery Research Programme (HSDR).

The other four NIHR-funded projects

• Same day and urgent care workforce research partnership (SURGE). There are currently large staff shortages in NHS same day and urgent care services. This includes general practice, ambulance services, urgent treatment centres and Emergency Departments. Working in these services is known to be very stressful. There are high rates of sickness and staff leaving. This partnership aims to provide research to support employers to create a more robust and thriving workforce.

• Staff Wellbeing: Innovative partnerships to enable staff to care well under pressure and thrive at work. This project will test solutions to improve staff wellbeing and create healthy workplaces. It will build on a foundation of expertise and evidence on staff wellbeing and researchers will work in partnership with national policy and local service stakeholders.

• Social Care Workforce Research Partnership: Care Work. The research team will develop research to foster a more effective and well-supported social care workforce. They will focus on areas such as wellbeing, labour supply, demand and markets. They will also look at using data and technology and innovation in work conditions and organisation of work.

• Partnership for Workforce Sustainability in Underserved Areas. The NHS faces severe problems recruiting and retaining staff. If there are not enough staff, or if there is a high turnover of staff, the quality of care suffers. This project focuses on areas of high deprivation, where people have more complex needs, and on geographically remote locations. The partnership will focus on the north east, London and the West Midlands, and on primary care and maternity services. It will co-design system changes with staff, patients and organisational leaders in these sectors, to improve workforce sustainability.

For more information, visit the NIHR website. See: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-research-tackle-challenges-facing-nhs-and-care-workforce

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