A NEW single body is needed to oversee workforce planning, and to commission education and training places for the NHS in Wales, an independent review has concluded.

Such a body would help ensure the health service can respond to the challenges of today and the future, says the Health Professional Education Investment review.

Commissioned by the Welsh Government, it also recommends that the NHS develop stronger relationships with professional regulators, and identifies a need for a refreshed vision for NHS Wales for the next 15 years.

Greater emphasis on giving young people opportunities to experience the wide range of career opportunities in the NHS is also suggested.

The review also concludes that the NHS in Wales needs to demonstrate the value it places on existing staff by putting more emphasis on how people can be provided with chances to extend their skills through flexible education and training plans.

It also reflects the need to exploit technology further through a greater use of e-learning programmes.

The review looked at the way the Welsh Government currently invests in the planning, development and the commissioning of health professional education and workforce development.

The Welsh NHS is Wales’ largest employer, with more than 72,000 (full-time equivalent) people directly employed, along with an additional 4,000 independent practitioners. Over the past 10 years, the number of frontline staff working in the Welsh NHS has increased by almost 10 per cent.

More than £350 million a year is invested in education and training programmes to support more than 15,000 students studying a range of health-related programmes across Wales. These include undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional development.

The review panel concluded that current arrangements for planning and commissioning education and training places are over-complicated and fragmented.