East of England
About the region The East of England region covers the 6 counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. There are 6 Unitary Authorities in Luton, Peterborough, Southend-on-sea, Thurrock, Bedford and Central Bedfordshire.
The health of the region’s population is similar to the national average but there are a number of areas of significant health inequality and social deprivation.
Patterns of disease are changing due to lifestyle changes and the increasing and changing needs of many older people with long term conditions.
The health sector workforce is large, employing approximately 9% of the total regional workforce. Of the 5,300 health sector employers, over 90% are small and medium sized enterprises.
The workforce is ageing (East of England has the highest proportion of staff over 45 years) and over 250,000 vacancies will need to be filled over the next 10 years. In addition, the potential workforce pool of young people is reducing faster than the national average.
Projects
Skills for Health is involved in:
• There is a strong tradition of collaboration in this region, and over 30 publicly funded partner organisations work together as ‘Health Skills East’. Led by Skills for Health, they support health sector employees and commissioners involved in workforce development. www.healthskillseast.org.uk
• A new ‘Health Ambassador’ scheme has been developed by Skills for Health and Aimhigher Healthcare to help young people understand the vast range of careers on offer in healthcare. Available to all schools and Trusts in the East of England, it is supported real practitioners speaking to students in the classroom and a series of simulation events.
• Skills for Health and MOVE have teamed up to provide an Information Advice and Guidance (IAG) service for the region. It describes both career pathways and academic progression routes. www.healthskillseast.org.uk
• Three major Skills for Health service and education redesign demonstrator sites are located in the East of England which support the new approaches to workforce development and the implementation of Darzi reforms.
Sector Skills Agreement
The Health Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) for the East of England was launched in November 2007. It identified five key challenges for the next 10 years:-
- widen sources of recruitment to meet the additional demand
- retain staff by creating more satisfying roles and reducing barriers to progression
- support the development of new roles and teams reflecting new care pathways
- increase workforce productivity
- develop a health Skills Academy.
To read the progress report on implementing the the SSA click here (pdf).
To read the full East of England SSA report click here (pdf).
To read SSA summary click here (pdf).
Key Facts
• Total population - 5.6 million
• Population will increase by 30% between 1981 and 2028 (fastest rate of increase of any region)
• 31% of population will be over 60 years by 2028 compared with 21% in 2004 (highest proportion of elderly of any region).
Labour Market Intelligence
To read the full Labour Market Intelligence report on the region
click here.