The 10-Year Health Plan:

Train to Task or Is It a Role?

Having taken stock and had a few drinks, we went back to the 10-year plan. Having regained our composure, we reviewed the training plan outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan.

To be FIT FOR THE FUTURE, the plan will ensure staff have the skills they need in a digitally enabled NHS.’

We had to ask Matt, our AI assistant, what 'train to task' and 'trained to role' meant. If only we'd had AI training, we’d probably know.

So, train-to-task means providing health and care staff with just enough training to perform specific tasks—such as feeding, washing, or administering medication—without broader clinical education.

The government will collaborate with regulators, but which ones? The GMC, the CQC, or the MHRA? We hope it's not the MHRA.

Perhaps the MHRA's role should be focused on ensuring that everyone practices safe hygiene and cleanliness - all we need now is a Yellow Card system for reporting dirty hands.

Matt thinks that “Trained to role" refers to providing employees with the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to perform their job duties effectively.

But isn't everyone already trained in the NHS for their roles? Matt says that nurses are already trained to fulfil a specific role within the healthcare system, so are doctors, physios - in fact, who isn't trained for their role? Don’t you dare suggest the management?

However, Matt says you must equip individuals with the precise tools and resources required for their specific role within the NHS.

We are all to receive ‘comprehensive training in the use of AI and digital tools’.

So, next time we see a patient having a cardiac arrest, it’ll be machine learning, neural networks, and generative AI that’ll save them. No need for an ambulance within 10 minutes - that’s too old-school for this government.

Tales from the Front Line: Where's the AI when you need it?

Two old geezers wrote this post, who have done too much training.