Follow the conference on social media #NHSJobPlanning
Effective job planning is increasingly central to NHS workforce planning, productivity, service transformation and staff wellbeing. It should provide a transparent and realistic assessment of the clinical, leadership, education, supervision, improvement and professional activity required to deliver safe and effective care. However, national evidence continues to show a gap between contracted job plans and the work doctors undertake in practice. The Royal College of Physicians has highlighted growing pressure from additional activity, including Advice and Guidance, with many senior doctors reporting that this work is either not recognised or not adequately protected within their job plans.
“Modelling in the 10 Year Workforce Plan must reflect the reality of the time senior doctors spend reviewing and responding to these requests. It must also consider flexible job planning so that senior doctors have dedicated, protected time built into their roles.”
Professor Mumtaz Patel, President, Royal College of Physicians, April 2026
NHS England is also strengthening expectations around job planning. Its Medium Term Planning Framework requires providers to ensure that 95% of medical job plans are signed off in line with the annual business cycle, supported by service-level demand and capacity planning. Providers are expected to introduce stronger monitoring of job-planned activity and move towards multi professional service-level job planning by 2028/29.
“Dedicated time in senior doctor job plans and adequate administrative support is vital to ensure that these reforms do not place even greater pressure on teams already struggling to meet the demands of delivering safe, timely, planned specialist care.”
Dr Hilary Williams, Clinical Vice President, Royal College of Physicians, April 2026
Recent improvement work demonstrates what can be achieved. NHS England London reported that consultant job-plan sign-off increased from 59% in April 2025 to 86% by February 2026, with SAS doctor sign-off rising from 43% to 71%.
“These actions are establishing a more consistent and transparent job planning approach across London, supporting better workforce planning, improved productivity, and safer, more sustainable patient care.”
NHS England London, April 2026
Job planning must also respond to new models of care, changing patient demand and increasingly complex medical roles. This includes recognising remote clinical advice, education and supervision, leadership, quality improvement, digital transformation and wider organisational responsibilities, alongside direct clinical care.
“Job planning is far more than a contractual process it is the foundation for a modern, thriving NHS. By embracing flexibility, valuing the full range of doctors’ contributions, and creating space for leadership, education and innovation, we can build a resilient health service that delivers exceptional care for patients.”
Professor Stella Vig, National Medical Director for Quality and Clinical Effectiveness, NHS England, July 2025
This National NHS Job Planning Conference will provide a practical update on improving individual, team and service-level job planning. The conference will support clinical, medical workforce, HR and operational leaders to move beyond job-plan completion rates and develop fair, collaborative and evidence-based approaches that align medical capacity with patient need, service priorities and available resources.
Through presentations, case studies and extended interactive sessions, delegates will develop their skills in leading job-plan reviews, using activity and workforce data, negotiating changes and managing difficult or disputed issues. The programme will also explore annualisation, team-based planning, governance, legal and contractual considerations, and how job planning can support productivity without squeezing out essential professional activity.
This conference will enable you to:
understand current NHS England expectations for medical job planning
align individual and team job plans with patient demand and service priorities
improve governance, assurance and annual sign-off
use workforce, activity and financial data more effectively
lead fair, transparent and constructive job-plan discussions
develop team-based, service-level and annualised approaches
ensure leadership, education, supervision and improvement activity are recognised
negotiate changes and manage difficult issues, mediation and appeals
improve engagement with consultants and SAS doctors
develop an action plan to improve job planning within your organisation
