A call for evidence has been issued by the Shape of Caring Review board. The evidence will inform its final report on the training and education needed by nurses and healthcare assistants over the next 15 years.
The review has been set up to ensure that nurses and HCAs in all settings have the skills necessary to meet the population's changing health and care needs, HEE has said.
Evidence is needed from the UK's nursing and HCA workforce around eight themes including 'assuring high-quality practice learning environments which support the development of the future workforce', and 'valuing the role of the care assistant'.
The review is being led by independent chair Lord Willis of Knaresborough. 'This review must answer some important questions on what we need to do to future proof the workforce and equip our staff with the skills they need to work in a changing environment,' he said. 'In considering these questions, and many others besides, the review needs to understand as many different perspectives as possible.'
'Across the UK, there are excellent examples of organisations investing in education and training for their nurses and care assistants. I want to learn from these,' he added.
The sponsoring board is co-chaired by Lisa Bayliss-Pratt, director of nursing at HEE, and Jackie Smith, chief executive and registrar of the NMC. Speaking about evidence she hopes to receive on existing initiatives, Ms Bayliss-Pratt said: 'I'm hoping to find some golden nuggets out there. I'm also hoping for some evidence that none of us have thought of, some blue-sky thinking around what [training and education] could look like.'
To submit evidence, visit http://hee.nhs.uk/2014/07/31/shape-of-caring-review-call-for-evidence.
The deadline for submissions is 5pm, Wednesday 17 September.
The final report will be issued to the board in January 2015.