The national health service is best placed to determine the workforce it needs to deliver high quality service for patients. The Department is committed to supporting the NHS to do this by ensuring information such as supply and demand of sonographers is well understood throughout the NHS, and that workforce planning and education and training decisions reflect this.
For example, the Department and NHS Workforce Review Team work to produce a list of shortage occupations for the Migration Advisory Committee. Registered therapeutic radiographers and sonographers are included in the list, which comprises skilled occupations where there are shortages that can sensibly be filled by enabling employers to recruit migrants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
The NHS Next Stage Review document “A High Quality Workforce” outlined improvements for the workforce planning system, including a Centre for Workforce Intelligence and Professional Advisory Boards to provide expert research, analysis and co-ordinated clinical advice to the NHS. A copy has been placed in the Library.
This will help to ensure that the NHS has the right workforce with the right skills to deliver high quality care for all patients.