The employment crisis for clinical and non-clinical roles in health care needs to be prioritised.
That’s according to the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) who made the assessment when looking at the state of the health service when adapting to new technological developments. In it’s statement, the organisation said while upgrades in technological systems were certainly welcome, the main focus in the health service should be to develop a method of making careers in the health service look more attractive to potential new applicants. There needed to be more ways of reducing the pressure felt by current health care staff and seeing how it filtered down to the next generation of applicants.
The submission comes in response to the big conversation the trade body is putting together which will help analyse the situation on professional staffing and call on the government to consider better core solutions to the worker crisis in healthcare. Some of the solutions which were discussed include:
Improving different partnerships between NHS employers and other stakeholders. This situation needs to be upgraded to allow the service to deliver a long term workforce plan in a smooth and timely manner. This will help implement the changes which are needed with as little disruption to the normal service as possible. There should also be some inclusion of the views of those who are supplying the non-clinical staff needed to drive digital transformation in the NHS.
There should be a transformation of different hiring practices to help focus on temporary staff reforms which reduce the need to employ different forms of agency workers.
There should be an improvement of the level of compliance and standards which show that NHS employers are working in line with government standards and requirements. This will help to run a consistent service across all providers and suppliers.
Developing a Digital Work Passport: This would hold key credentials for workers to help make hiring easier, faster and safer.
Utilising a blended workforce: The Government must recognise the value of a blended, flexible workforce and ensure attractive pay rates and good working conditions for all.
Understanding the reality of costs: The NHS and Government departments need to conduct independent research to understand the true cost of compliant framework recruitment.
Mandating social value in supply chains: “Social value” must be driven across the supply chain, for example by sharing contractual risk and bearing increased statutory costs, such as employer NICs increases. All too often the SME recruitment company on-framework is expected to bear employer costs within its commercial margin.
Supporting skills and training: Rolling out the Growth and Skills Levy, based around modular, universally transferable training and qualifications that are accessible to permanent and temporary or agency workers.
Creating flexible visas for skilled workers: Which will provide a short-term visa route for highly skilled foreign professionals who remain critical to the running of the NHS and the provision of unique services.
Shazia Imtiaz, General Counsel at APSCo comments:
“The plans to modernise technology usage in the NHS are certainly a step in the right direction for an organisation that is essentially on its knees. However, the biggest issue that needs addressing urgently is the employment crisis. There’s a range of barriers that are preventing some of the immediate solutions from being rolled out, including a lack of standardisation in compliance and regulation across frameworks, as well as limitations on agency or international worker usage.
“We are urging the Government to consider how it can make recruitment fairer, safer and faster for clinical and non-clinical role in the NHS, without overburdening both the existing workforce and the staffing businesses that are so critical to the healthcare sector.”
