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Showing results for tags 'Workforce management'.
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News Article
Desperate NHS pays up to £2,500 for nursing shifts
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS bosses are increasingly paying premium rates for agency staff to plug holes in rotas, the BBC has found. Spending in this area rose by 20% last year to hit £3bn in England. For many shifts, bosses have been so short-staffed they have been willing to breach the government pay caps for these agency workers, most of whom are doctors and nurses. Separate data supplied by Labour showed some NHS trusts had paid as much as £2,500 to nurses to fill shifts. Out of 60 responses from trusts, 10 reported the most expensive shift cost over £2,000, and for another 13 it was between £1,000-2,000. The BBC spoke to one cancer doctor who was offered work for £130 an hour - well above the cap for his role - and described the fees available as "astonishing" and a reflection of "desperation by management". Chief executive of Colchester hospital, Nick Hulme, says a combination of factors is playing a role, including the need to open extra wards to cope with rising demand, as well as staffing shortages. Some people are even leaving their jobs, only to return later as agency workers. He says while many agency workers do fantastic work on the wards, he would still prefer to be able to use his own staff. "We know that's best for patient care, best for patient experience. Agency staff require more supervision and tasks such as handovers take longer." Read full story Source: BBC News, 11 November 2022 -
Content ArticleThis article in the BMJ highlights a number of recent articles that reflect on the realities facing the health service after the first brutal years of the Covid-19 pandemic. It summarises and links to articles in the BMJ about the elective care backlog, A&E waiting times, remote appointments, Government pressures that stop senior clinicians speaking out about pressures, and the need for credible policy solutions. It also highlights an article outlining how Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol have resulted in the UK being denied access to European research funding and meetings.
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Content Article
How can Parliament make health and care safer for all? (4 November 2022)
Mark Hughes posted an article in Others
In this blog for the cross-party think tank Policy Connect, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care sets out its view on the biggest challenges affecting the quality and safety of health and social care outlined in its report Safer care for all - solutions from professional regulation and beyond. It describes gaps in the wider framework to protect the public highlighted in this report and considers where Parliament and the Government have an opportunity to act to support safer care for all. Related reading Patient Safety Learning: Joining up a fragmented landscape: Reflections on the PSA report ‘Safer care for all’ (12 September 2022) Working together to achieve safer care for all: a blog by Alan Clamp (12 September 2022) -
News Article
Nurses’ strike: what’s at stake and how will it affect patients?
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Ministers have offered about 1 million NHS staff in England – everyone bar doctors and dentists – a pay rise of at least £1,400 for 2022-23. That represents a rise of between 4% and 5% for staff covered by the longstanding Agenda for Change negotiating framework. Health unions have rejected the £1,400. They want a rise that would at least match inflation – which is currently 10.1% – while the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is seeking inflation plus 5%. Without inflation-proof rises, staff will suffer a real-terms cut in their take-home pay, unions say. “Our members will no longer tolerate a financial knife-edge at home and a raw deal at work”, said the RCN general secretary, Pat Cullen. Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison, added: “Inflation has already wiped out this year’s 72p-an-hour increase. The government must put pay right to spare the NHS, its staff and all those relying on its care from a dispute no one wants to see.” The RCN has balloted its members across the UK. The results, published on Wednesday, show that a majority of nurses in most but not all hospitals and other NHS services across the four home nations have rejected the government’s offer and decided to strike in pursuit of better pay. Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, has condemned as “unacceptable” the fact that strikes will disrupt services and affect patients’ care. While he has not criticised nurses or any health union, he has blamed ministers for not negotiating with the RCN to try to avert strike action. “I’m concerned, I think lots of people are concerned about the impact of disruption”, he told LBC’s Tonight with Andrew Marr on Monday. “That’s still a disruption to patients, which I think is unacceptable.” If he were the health secretary he would see patients as his “first and foremost” responsibility, he said. “That’s why I think the government have to get a grip on this and get the unions around the table because there is a deal there to be done.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 November 2022 -
News Article
Nurses set to hold biggest-ever strike
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The biggest ever strike by nurses looks set to go ahead. The Royal College of Nursing is due to unveil the results of its ballot, which ended last week, in the next few days. The final results are being counted but RCN sources say a large majority of nurses have voted in favour of action in a dispute over pay. The RCN had recommended to its 300,000 members that they walk out. If strikes take place, they would affect non-urgent but not emergency care. The vote has involved a series of individual workplace-based ballots across the UK and if nurses do not back action at a local level it is possible some hospitals and services will not be involved. The government had appealed to nurses to "carefully consider" the impact on patients. But Pat Cullen, RCN general secretary and chief executive, said: "Huge numbers of staff - both experienced and newer recruits - are deciding they cannot see a future in a nursing profession that is not valued nor treated fairly. She added: "Our strike action will be as much for patients as it is for nurses. We have their support in doing this." Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden said the government had "well-oiled contingencies in place" for dealing with any strike action by nurses. Speaking on Sky News, Mr Dowden said essential services would be prioritised, "but of course there would be an impact as a result of a strike like that". Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 November 2022 -
Content ArticleThis webpage outlines the role of Medical Examiner Officers (MEOs), who provide the continuity and oversight that the medical examiner service requires to have the maximum benefit. It includes information on training, induction and recruitment, as well as a model job description for an MEO.
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Content Article
Blog - Long Covid: A catalogue of shame (2 November 2022)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Blogs
In this blog, Roger Kline, Research Fellow at Middlesex University Business School, highlights the lack of support from the Government and NHS that healthcare staff with Long Covid face. He looks at the impact of the Government’s decision to scrap extended sick pay for NHS staff with Long Covid and argues that healthcare workers deserve better support. The blog includes accounts from 31 NHS nurses and midwives with Long Covid; some are having to use annual leave as they cannot work their full hours and some have been threatened with redundancy. Others describe their experiences of phased return to work and applying for the NHS Injury Allowance or ill health early retirement. -
EventuntilSir Mike Richards’ review of diagnostics, Diagnostics: recovery and renewal, which was commissioned in response to recommendations in the NHS Long-Term Plan, outlined a new diagnostic model for services. The review identified key enablers to drive and deliver much needed to change to optimise diagnostic capacity and improve efficiency, along with the need for a major expansion of the workforce and improved connectivity and digitisation across all aspects of diagnostics. Demand for almost all aspects of diagnostics has been rising year on year. The public’s familiarisation with swab testing and testing closer to home through the Covid-19 has provided a strong launch pad to change the approach to diagnostics in response to this rising demand This King's Fund event will explore what can be learnt from the NHS reponse to Covid-19, how partners are working to reshape diagnostic pathways through community diagnostic centres, point-of-care testing and increasing workforce capability and capacity. Register
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Content ArticleThe General Medical Council (GMC) commissioned this research to understand the decision-making processes of doctors leaving the UK workforce to practise medicine overseas. This research built on previous work by exploring migration ‘decision journeys’ and the practical steps and considerations involved at each stage of the process.
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Content ArticleThis analysis by The Health Foundation looks at NHS staff pay over the ten years to 2021. During those 10 years, there was very little change in overall average basic pay for NHS staff, after accounting for inflation. However, the analysis found considerable variation in how pay has changed across different NHS staff groups over the same period. After accounting for inflation, pay declines are particularly visible for nurses and health visitors, midwives, and scientific, therapeutic and technical staff.
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News Article
NHS Scotland in a perilous situation, says doctors' union
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Scotland's NHS is in "a perilous situation" amid a staffing and funding crisis, according to the chairman of the doctors' union. Dr Iain Kennedy said urgent action was needed to tackle workload pressures ahead of a potentially "terrifying" winter period. It comes after Scotland's health secretary Humza Yousaf admitted NHS Scotland was not performing well. Mr Yousaf told BBC Scotland it would take at least five years to fix. Dr Kennedy, who is chairman of the industry body BMA Scotland, said it was good to hear Mr Yousaf being honest about the scale of the problems, but added that "frankly we cannot wait five years" for things to improve. He told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "The NHS in Scotland is in a perilous situation and we have a particular crisis around the workforce - we simply do not have enough doctors in general practice and in hospitals. "We need more urgent action because the pressures and the workload have really shot up." Dr Kennedy has called on the government to publish a "heat map" showing where NHS vacancies are unfilled across Scotland. He said: "The public need to see transparency on where the vacancies are. We think that there are probably 15% vacancies across hospital consultant posts across Scotland. "Even the government admits to 7% and that we are at least 800 GPs short in Scotland - and I, and others, suspect we are probably well over that figure now." Read full story Source: BBC News, 31 October 2022 -
Content ArticleThe number of people on NHS Wales waiting lists for treatment has reached record levels. This problem has worsened since the Covid-19 pandemic, with the average wait time for treatment more than doubling since December 2019. This report by the Welsh Centre for Public Policy identifies five key areas in which policy could be developed to improve outcomes and reduce waiting times. These areas target the underlying factors causing increased waiting times, and are likely to both improve the overall performance of the health system, and to impact outcomes which matter to patients, resulting in a more patient-centred approach: Workforce capacity Digital technology Reimagining primary care Systems collaboration Follow-up care
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Content ArticleNHS Confederation chair Lord Victor Adebowale and chief executive Matthew Taylor wrote to Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP on his appointment as Prime Minister. Their letter both highlights the critical role of health in driving growth and sets out urgent action needed to help relieve some of the pressures on the NHS this winter, including: support for the NHS workforce urgently bolstering social care capacity protecting the NHS's capital budget supporting communities during the cost of living crisis asserting the government’s commitment to health protection and prevention.
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News Article
Nurses are working the equivalent of one day a week for nothing, research says
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Nurses are working the equivalent of one day a week for nothing, according to a study. Researchers from London Economics were commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to look at pay in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland since 2010. They found that the salary of an experienced nurse had fallen by 20% in real terms, based on a five-day week. Experienced nurses in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland would need a nominal pay rise of 45% by 2024-25 just to return their salaries to levels seen in 2010-11 in real terms, the research said. And such a pay rise would actually help the NHS save money in the long term, as it would be cheaper than hiring staff from overseas, according to the study. Dr Gavan Conlon, who oversaw the research, said that bringing staff in from overseas costs approximately £16,900 more annually than retaining a nurse, while using agency workers costs around £21,300 more per year. He said that about 32,000 nurses leave the NHS every year, many due to the failure of their pay to keep up with the rising cost of living. The RCN is balloting its 300,000 members for strike action, calling for higher pay and an effort by government to fill the hundreds of thousands of nursing vacancies across the country. Read full story Source: Sky News, 28 October 2022 -
Content ArticleIn this opinion piece for The BMJ, David Oliver, consultant in geriatrics and acute general medicine, highlights the findings of three recent reports into the growing crisis in social care: Falling short: How far have we come in improving support for unpaid carers in England? (The Nuffield Trust) The state of the adult social care workforce in England 2022 (Skills for Care) The Cost of Caring: Deprivation and Poverty among Residential Care Workers in the UK (The Health Foundation) The reports evidence a lack of support for unpaid carers, growing vacancies in the sector and a high proportion of the residential care workforce living in poverty and food insecurity. David Oliver highlights that in spite of Government promises, there is still no feasible, future-proof plan to protect social care and its staff.
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News Article
NHS staff struggling with menopause choosing to leave
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
The NHS faces an “exodus” of female doctors who are struggling to work due to a lack of menopause support, a report has warned. The Medical Protection Society, which helps doctors in legal and ethical disputes, said that many quit or reduce their hours over fears that their menopause symptoms, such as brain fog, insomnia and hot flushes, will cause them to accidentally harm patients. A survey found that 36 per cent of female doctors have considered reducing their hours because of menopause symptoms, while one in five have considered early retirement. “With females making up most of the healthcare workforce, it is crucial that they can access the support they need to avoid an exodus from the profession,” the report said. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 26 October 2022 -
Content ArticleIn this BMJ feature, journalist Emma Wilkinson looks at how a shortage of health visitors in England is leaving babies and children exposed to safeguarding risks, late diagnosis and other problems. An estimated third of the health visitor workforce has been lost since 2015, and research by the Parent-Infant Foundation suggests that 5000 new health visitors are needed. Families are not getting the minimum recommended number of contacts with health visitors during the first three years of life, and research into the impact of this on children's outcomes is ongoing. Emma speaks to different mothers, including Phillippa Guillou, who had a baby in 2020 and struggled to breastfeed. Philippa felt unsupported and ignored by her local health visiting service, who only saw her once by videocall when her baby was one year old.
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Content ArticleThey play a vital role in society, but workers in adult social care – who are mostly women – are among the lowest paid in the UK and experience poor working conditions. This report by The Health Foundation analyses national survey data from 2017/18 to 2019/20 to understand rates of poverty and deprivation among residential care workers in the UK. It then compares these rates to other sectors including health, retail, hospitality and administration. The analysis demonstrates that: over a quarter of the UK’s residential care workers lived in, or were on the brink of, poverty. Nearly 1 in 10 experienced food insecurity. Around 1 in 8 children of residential care workers were ‘materially deprived’, meaning they may not have access to essential resources such as fresh fruit and vegetables or adequate winter clothing. the prevalence of poverty and deprivation in residential care is similar to hospitality, retail and administration. But residential care workers experienced much higher rates than most workers – and were at least twice as likely to experience poverty and food insecurity than health workers. Their dependent children were nearly four times as likely to experience material deprivation than children of health workers. The report highlights that political and economic conditions have changed since the data they looked at was collected, meaning that the situation is likely to have worsened for many social care workers. The poorest households in the UK are being disproportionately affected by sharp rises in inflation and poverty is set to increase. The report also highlights chronic underfunding in the social care sector, particularly in England, and calls on the new Government to make it a priority to ensure social care workers are paid fairly.
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News ArticleThe NHS is launching an effort to recruit tens of thousands of nurses to help fill the record number of vacancies that low pay, Covid and heavy workloads have created across the service. A multimedia blitz will try to raise nursing’s profile as a worthwhile career by featuring patients who benefited from nurses’ skills and dedication. NHS England’s “We are the NHS” campaign will use radio, social media and cinema advertisements to portray nursing as a varied and fulfilling role that can change people’s lives. It comes soon after NHS figures showed that the number of empty posts in nursing across hospitals, mental health, community care and other services had reached 46,828 – the largest number ever. That means that more than one in 10 nursing roles (11.8%) are unfilled across the service overall. While the NHS is short of almost every type of staff, service chiefs say the acute lack of nurses is a key reason why so many patients are waiting so long for A&E, cancer treatment and other care. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 24 October 2022
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News Article
NHSE’s ‘institutionalised’ firing of CEOs contributed to ‘major service failure’
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
An “institutionalised” and “counterproductive” system of hiring and firing trust leaders was a contributory factor to care failings which caused the death of at least 45 babies an inquiry has concluded. The inquiry into maternity care at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust, chaired by Bill Kirkup, discovered what it described as the latest ”major service failure” in NHS maternity care. It concluded that successive chairs and chief executives were “wrong” to believe the trust had provided adequate care for more than a decade and urged they be held accountable. But he added the churn of senior management had been “wholly counterproductive” for the trust. His report said: “We have found at chief executive, chair and other levels a pattern of hiring and firing, initiated by NHS England. The practice may never have been an explicit policy, but it has become institutionalised. In response to difficult problems, pressure is placed on a trust’s chair to replace the chief executive, and/or to stand down themself." Read full story Source: HSJ, 20 October 2022 (paywalled) -
EventuntilThe concerns about the state and stability of the NHS were deeply entrenched before 2020 and then of course the pandemic hit. The additional pressures and longer waiting times for appointments and treatment have only grown following a time when the NHS staff have experienced stresses like they never have before. The situation has led to increased fears of privatisation and increasing staff shortages as so many seek work elsewhere. But where does this leave our national health service and what does the future hold for a life saving institution which is struggling to survive itself? Join the Independent’s latest panel discussion as part of our virtual event series where our health correspondent Rebecca Thomas will ask a panel of experts including Dr Alexis Paton, director at the Centre for Health and Society, Hannah Barham-Brown, a GP and also deputy leader of the Women’s Equality Party and Dr Suzanne Tyler, RCM's Executive Director, Trade Union, about how they think the NHS can be healed and how it’s future can be secured. Register for the event
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Content ArticleThis Health and Social Care Select Committee report examines the pressure currently facing general practice, which is leading to low morale, GPs leaving the profession and problems recruiting new GPs. In turn, patients are increasingly dissatisfied with the level of access they receive. The root cause of the situation is that there are not enough GPs to meet the ever-increasing demands on the service, coupled with patients presenting with increasing complexity due to an ageing population. The report outlines the Committee's assessment of the key issues, including the problems with reliance on locum doctors and lack of continuity of care, and outlines what the Government should do to equip general practice for the future.
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Content ArticleIn this blog, Dr Amy Proffitt, Royal College of Physicians (RCP) patient involvement officer, explores how the patient voice is represented in patient safety. She highlights the importance of engaging patients from a diverse range of backgrounds and responding to research that highlights particular populations who are experiencing worse outcomes. Eddie Kinsella, chair of the RCP’s Patient and Carer Network, then goes on to share his thoughts on patient safety, highlighting the role of patient partners in bringing about culture change in the NHS, and as advocates for the wider community, especially those who are most disadvantaged.
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News Article
End rules stopping thousands of doctors working in GP surgeries, says GMC chief
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Thousands of doctors are being prevented from working in overstretched GP surgeries across the UK because of unnecessary “red tape”, leaving NHS patients experiencing “unprecedented” waits for care, the head of the doctors’ regulator in the UK has said. Charlie Massey, the chief executive of the General Medical Council, said barriers that stopped medics from being deployed to meet areas of high demand, such as in primary care, must be removed urgently if the NHS workforce crisis was to be resolved and access to care improved. “Red tape is stopping the UK from making the most of many of its skilled and experienced doctors,” he said. “Without action, patients will suffer.” The regulator will on Tuesday call for a relaxation of rules so the fastest-growing part of the medical workforce – skilled doctors in non-training roles – can undertake a wider range of work beyond hospitals, such as in GP surgeries. “There are no easy answers to the challenges facing the NHS. There is no army of new doctors coming over the horizon, so part of the solution must be to make sure that we have more doctors in the places that patients need them,” Massey said. “The government should make a start immediately by changing the performers list criteria so more doctors are allowed to work alongside GPs. That needs to be done urgently. “But beyond technical changes there is also a need for fresh thinking in the way our health services are structured and in how teams of health professionals work together. We can’t keep doing things the same way they have always been done, or nothing will change." Read full story Source: BBC News, 18 October 2022 -
EventuntilThe free, one-day, virtual conference will explore the themes and issues arising from the report recently published by the Authority, Safer care for all – solutions from professional regulation and beyond. It will be an opportunity to hear a range of views, debates and discussions about some of the issues in the report with the aim of moving towards solutions to support safer care for all. Safer care for all – solutions from professional regulation and beyond is the Authority’s contribution to the debate on some of the key patient and service user safety challenges within health and social care, drawing on insights from our role overseeing the ten health and care professional regulators and the Accredited Registers programme. Topics that we focus on within the report include: tackling inequalities regulating for new risks facing up to the workforce crisis accountability, fear and public safety. Register
