Calls for Evidence are easy to ignore. That would be a mistake. They signal what boards and national leaders are thinking about, and they give you a fast route to sounding current and credible at interview. This public post explains the latest Call for Evidence on the 10 Year Workforce Plan, why it matters, and how to use it in your preparation.
In September 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care opened a Call for Evidence to shape the 10 Year Workforce Plan for health and social care in England. It invites input on roles, skills and deployment for the next decade, not just headcount. The document asks stakeholders to engage with the three big shifts in the 10 Year Health Plan: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. The consultation is open until 7 November 2025.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/10-year-workforce-plan/10-year-workforce-plan-call-for-evidence-document
The substance of this announcement
The Call for Evidence seeks practical input on what the workforce needs to look like in 5 to 10 years. It asks respondents to comment on the roles and skills the service will need, the best ways to deploy staff across settings, and how education and training should adapt. It explicitly includes the medical and dental workforce, including consultants.
Unlike a numerical workforce plan that focuses on how many people are needed, this document is about what people will do, where they will work, and the competencies they require. It aligns responses to wider reform aims such as shifting care closer to home, embedding digital care where safe and useful, and strengthening prevention.
The process is straightforward. Organisations, Royal Colleges, education providers and individuals with relevant expertise can submit evidence through the official page. This matters because many trusts will be preparing their own responses or contributing through their ICS. If you understand the prompt, you will be on the same page as the interview panel.
How this adds to what is already known
Workforce plans have historically concentrated on supply: recruitment targets, training numbers and vacancy gaps. This Call for Evidence adds a structural lens. It asks how roles should evolve, how skills should shift, and how deployment should change to meet future models of care. It also clarifies that digital capability and community-based delivery are not optional extras. They are central to the service’s direction.
Implications for the NHS system, trusts and professionals
The announcement points to a workforce redesign agenda that will touch strategy, services and daily practice.
System meaning
ICSs and national bodies are signalling that workforce reform is a central lever of service change. That includes new role mixes, hybrid working across settings and stronger digital capacity. It will influence education, commissioning and performance assessment.
Expectations
Trust level
- Align local workforce strategies with the three shifts and prepare evidence for ICS or national submissions.
- Review team structures and skill mix to support community clinics, digital pathways and prevention work.
- Plan for upskilling and career pathways that retain staff and support new roles.
Service level
- Map tasks that can safely move to advanced practitioners, allied professionals or digital-first workflows, and define supervision and escalation rules.
- Identify training changes needed for your specialty, including digital competencies and community-facing learning.
- Monitor workforce metrics that matter to delivery, not only vacancy numbers. Consider retention, supervision capacity and task-shifting outcomes.
Consultant and leadership level
- Articulate how your specialty’s consultant role should evolve over the next decade.
- Lead proposals for hybrid models that balance in-person, community and digital work while protecting safety and training.
- Contribute to evidence gathering in your trust or College, bringing real examples of service redesign and workforce innovation.
Interview relevance
Workforce is a core interview theme because it drives safety, access and sustainability. This Call for Evidence tells you what panels are likely to explore: how services and roles must change to meet future care models. Candidates who can talk credibly about role evolution, skill mix, digital readiness and community interfaces will stand out. Referencing the Call for Evidence shows you are current and aware of what boards are discussing now.
Possible interview questions
- How should the consultant role in your specialty evolve over the next decade in light of the workforce shifts from hospital to community and analogue to digital.
- What changes in skill mix and task allocation would improve access and safety in your service.
- How would you protect training and supervision while introducing new roles or digital workflows.
- What evidence would you gather to show your workforce changes are safe, effective and retain staff.
- If asked to help your trust respond to this Call for Evidence, what would you propose and why.
How to use this information
- Read the Call: skim the official document and note the framing questions.
- Prepare a one-page view: write a short position that outlines how your specialty can move towards community and digital care without compromising safety and training.
- Bring examples: consider a small pilot or change you have led or would lead, such as digital triage with clear escalation, or a joint consultant-and-ACP clinic.
- Align language: use the three shifts to frame your answers and connect them to local plans.
- Be realistic: mention constraints such as contracts, regulation or supervision capacity, then propose workable mitigations.
Summary
The 10 Year Workforce Plan Call for Evidence is a live signal of where strategy is heading. It asks for input on roles, skills and deployment that support the shift to community care, digital enablement and prevention. Trusts and ICSs will be paying attention. For interviews, it gives you a contemporary, policy-grounded way to discuss workforce reform, role evolution and service redesign, while showing you can balance ambition with safety and training.
Cheat Sheet: how to say this in interview
“The 10 Year Workforce Plan Call for Evidence moves beyond headcount to roles, skills and deployment, aligned with the shift to community, digital and prevention.”
“In my specialty I would define which tasks can safely move to advanced practitioners or digital-first clinics, with clear supervision and escalation rules.”
“I would protect training by mapping supervision and assessments across both digital and in-person work.”
“I would help my trust’s response by bringing local evidence from pilots and by proposing workforce metrics that show safety, access and retention.”
