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The Chief Nursing Officer for England, Professor Jane Cummings, will today (Thursday) urge nursing and midwifery staff to engage in a debate about the shape of the workforce for the future.

Professor Cummings will give a frank appraisal of the challenges and opportunities facing the profession and set out some of the big questions that need to be answered to improve care and meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Speaking at the Health and Care Innovation Expo 2016 conference in Manchester, Professor Cummings will say: “The world is changing and as a profession we need to respond in the right way, by taking responsibility and the lead to ensure we can meet the challenges we face.

“Is our workforce ready for these challenges? Are we making full use of our graduate workforce? Are we really addressing the training needed for prevention, technology and changing care requirements?”

She will continue: “The health and care system is going through a key period of change. Money is tight, so we need to find ways of being more efficient while improving services. This is tough, but as the largest group of healthcare professionals we should take the lead.

“The model of care we have for our patients is in many ways outdated – as nurses and midwives, we want more care out of hospital, because that is what our patients need and want – every emergency department nurse, community or practice nurse in the country will tell you that.

“Nurses and midwives have a key role to play, including ensuring the health and social care system work effectively together and that everyone understands how we can improve care for patients and the public.

“We also need to help the NHS respond to the challenges it faces, including how we can be more efficient – it is those on the frontline who know where those efficiencies are, how to reduce wasted time, share and adopt good practice and work with the public to explain and agree complex changes.

“We should make a case for the change we want to see.

“I am determined to ensure our professions have a seat at the table as we tackle the challenges ahead. The nursing and midwifery professions have a vital role to help shape an NHS and care system for the future and their voices must be heard.

“Our workforce is huge. In nursing and midwifery we have 543,000 registered with the NMC, 50,000 of these working in social care alongside 1.1 million care assistants. The sheer size and reach of the workforce gives us huge scope to shape and manage future changes.”

On the changes to the workforce, she will say: “Over the last year there have been many announcements on changes to the way we work – revalidation, a new nursing support role, changes to the bursary system and others.

“There is so much happening it can be difficult for people to see how it all fits together and why, but we need to go beyond the immediate headlines and see the big picture.

“Although the number of nurses in the NHS has been steadily increasing, it is clear that further work needs to be done, that demand continues to grow, there are challenges recruiting and retaining staff in some areas and that there are no simple answers.

“Questions have been asked about the impact the planned changes to the bursary system may have – this is uncharted territory and we need to be mindful of the potential risks as well as the potential benefits the removal of the cap on training places could bring.”

In May, Professor Cummings launched a new framework, Leading Change, Adding Value which aims to encourage all nursing, midwifery and care staff to take a leading role in bearing down on unwarranted variation in the prevention of ill-health and in the quality and efficiency of care.

On leadership and equality, she will say: “The NHS has a clear target to achieve gender balanced boards by 2020 and there are increasing opportunities for all nurses and midwives to progress in leadership roles, but we need to nurture talent early to support our next generation of leaders.

“Developing leaders at all levels is one of my priorities as CNO – the potential in our workforce to manage the challenges of today and shape the future should not be underestimated.”

This year’s, Health and Care Innovation Expo, sponsored by HIMSS-UK, focused on innovation and technology in the heath sector, and its role in the improved care of patients and the delivery of the NHS Five Year Forward View.

The conference included over 100 workshops in a ‘pop-up university’ format, four feature zones and two main speaker stages, which included speeches from:

• NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens
• Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt
• Health IT expert Professor Robert M. Wachter MD – Recommendations to the NHS following a review of IT across the health service
• NHS England National Medical Director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh – Innovation in the NHS
• NHS England National Director for Operations and Information Matthew Swindells – Transforming the delivery of health and care services
• Chief Nursing Officer for England Jane Cummings – Transforming experiences of care
• NHS England National Clinical Director for Cancer Cally Palmer MBE – Improving cancer care
• NHS England New Care Models Director Samantha Jones – How the #futureNHS vanguards are improving care for patients and local people
• The Times columnist and acclaimed author Matthew Syed – Black Box thinking
• Broadcaster and comedian Ruby Wax – Mental health and mindfulness.