AN NHS workforce reforms scheme should be paused as it falls “significantly short” and is over-reliant on AI, unions and organisations said today.

The coalition, representing more than one million NHS staff, has called on Health Secretary James Murray to pause publication of his 10-year plan for the health service workforce.

They say the upcoming blueprint does not take into account the number of staff needed to address unsafe conditions and rising demand.

There are also worries the plan overstates the benefits of technology with not enough evidence or safeguards, which would be a “disaster for patients.”

The letter, from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), British Medical Association, Society for Acute Medicine, Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing and Unite the union, said a “credible, fully costed, long-term workforce strategy is essential to recovery and reform” for the NHS.

It raises concerns that the current direction of the plan falls short in terms of the workforce growth needed to meet patient needs.

And it warns the department is relying on assumptions about the current state of services “that are not borne out of front-line experience.”

Assumptions about the role of AI and technology “risk overstating near-term productivity gains without sufficient evidence or safeguards,” the letter said.

The Department of Health and Social Care responded: “This government is making the NHS the best place to work by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals.

“We are also working closely with NHS staff on the rollout of new technology and AI tools designed to ease the pressures they face every day.

“We are absolutely clear that these are there to support our brilliant NHS workforce — freeing them up to spend more time with patients — not to replace them.”