Launching the CPOC workforce position paper – November 2024

There is irrefutable clinical, financial and patient associated benefit, for establishing a seamless, joined up perioperative care pathway.

To enable this transformational change in our patient’s surgical journey requires a skilled, motivated and high performing perioperative care team.

CPOC’s new workforce position paper describes strategic detail in 10 themes:

1. Efficiency
2. Working together
3. Activities to assist team-working
4. Culture and behaviours
5. Different staff groups
6. Education - levels of knowledge, skills and experience
7. Commitment to holistic health
8. I.T. systems set up to reduce workload
9. Patient-centred care
10. Leadership and workforce planning

This paper acknowledges the importance of patient-centred care and recognises that health is different from healthcare services. It describes the importance of valuing, educating and supporting every member of staff and of fostering excellent team-working to enable streamlined services. This new approach to the perioperative workforce has elements that may be transferable to other healthcare settings.

CPOC is a cross-disciplinary organisation with 11 major board partners that Is hosted and largely funded by the Royal College of Anaesthetists. We are ready to work with other organisations to develop this workforce position statement into a strategy across the NHS.