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Showing results for tags 'Workforce management'.
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Content ArticleDespite being the employees who often have the most direct contact with service users, NHS clinical support workers, such as healthcare assistants and maternity support workers, have long experienced a range of barriers to their effective deployment and development. These include a lack of standardised entry requirements, inconsistent task deployment and truncated career progression pathways. These have a detrimental impact on service delivery, including patient satisfaction. The degree to which local employers are able to determine the recruitment, deployment and development of support workers is a key reason why these issues endure; however, this article suggests that a deeper reason is the existence of a segmented labour market in the NHS, with support workers existing in a secondary market. This duality resides in the socio-economic differences between registered and non-registered staff. Recent NHS support workforce strategies present an opportunity to finally address the issues support staff face.
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Content ArticleHealth and care workers in all parts of Europe are experiencing overwork, with high levels of burnout. This opinion piece in the BMJ looks at the issue of healthcare professionals leaving European health systems to take early retirement or work in other countries where pay and conditions are better. It highlights the causes of this exodus, including increasing patient complexity, salary erosion and work-life balance. It argues that policies should prioritise retaining existing staff, as increased training numbers offer only a partial, long term answer.to the crisis, highlighting potential approaches governments can take to retain highly qualified healthcare staff.
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Content ArticleThe nature of patient needs and ward activity is changing. Inpatients tend to be more ill than they used to be, many with complex needs often arising from multiple long-term conditions. At the same time, hospitals face the challenges of a shortage and high turnover of registered nurses. This review presents recent evidence from National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded research, including studies on the number of staff needed, the support workforce and the organisation of care on the wards. While few research studies have explored the similar pressures that occur in community and social care, the learning from hospitals may be useful to decision makers in these areas.
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News Article
UK surgical workforce census 2023 opens
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The Royal College of Surgeons of England is conducting a census to gain a better understanding of the surgical workforce. Through the census, they will be able to gather comprehensive information on the composition of the surgical workforce, its demographics and working practices. Most importantly, it allows members of the surgical workforce to share the most pressing challenges they are facing. It aims to: Better appreciate the needs, challenges, and working practices of the surgical workforce. More effectively represent and advocate for the workforce. Offer better support Create a better working environment. Enhance sustainability, including measures to improve retention, recruitment and work-life balance. Improve future planning. Take part in the survey -
Content Article
Breaks from operational duty are an important factor in the management of fatigue. But as highly committed and professional operational staff often perform several secondary tasks and activities—inside or outside the ops room—breaks can become a victim. This blog by Chartered Ergonomist and Human Factors Specialist Stephen Shorrock offers some general guidelines about what kinds of tasks add to stress and fatigue and should be avoided during rest breaks. He places break activities into three categories which place different demands on the individual: red, amber and green activities. He also highlights that when it comes to breaks from operational duty, changes in activity are the key to reducing fatigue-related risks. -
News Article
Discrimination ‘biggest cause of staff leaving’
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Discrimination and inequality are bigger factors for staff wanting to leave acute trusts than burnout, new analysis of this year’s NHS staff survey has found. Researchers at LCP compared 12 summary indicators within the survey to answers on intention to leave, to build a “relative importance model” to explain “nearly 85% of the variation in intention to leave”. LCP said: “Approximately 30 per cent of that explained variance is attributable to the diversity and equality score (compared to less than 10 per cent attributable to the burnout summary indicator score).” Natalie Tikhonovsky, an analyst in LCP’s Health Analytics team, said: “Our analysis reveals a grim picture of low satisfaction levels and higher staff turnover rates currently facing the NHS acute sector. Understanding what is driving this will be key to the success of the government’s new workforce plan and to the overall aim of reducing steadily increasing wait lists.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 28 April 2023 -
Content ArticleWork stress is one of the leading causes of physical and mental problems among nurses and can affect patient safety. Nurses experiencing stress are more prone to make errors, which has consequences for the safety culture. This study, published in BMC Nursing, aimed to describe the findings of studies that examined the relationship between job stress and patient safety culture among nurses.
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Content ArticleThe number of people waiting for elective healthcare is at record levels. As well as compelling moral reasons to reduce NHS waiting lists, there is also a convincing economic case to go further and faster on elective recovery. We find that delivering against the target set by the Elective Recovery Plan would deliver an estimated increase in production of £73 billion over five years. But delivering a 30% increase in elective activity is a challenging task – and not one that data suggest will happen without further policy intervention. To help identify immediate opportunities for intervention, this report from the Progressive Policy Think Tank explores the most pressing bottlenecks in the elective treatment pathways.
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Content ArticleAll countries of the WHO European Region currently face severe challenges related to the health and care workforce (HCWF). This report focuses on identifying effective policy and planning responses to these HCWF challenges across the Region. The report presents an overview of the HCWF situation in the Region (focusing on medical doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists and physiotherapists, for whom data are available) and identifies relevant policy options, their expected benefits and potential facilitators or barriers to successful implementation. Examples of sound evidence-informed practices in countries are also provided. The aim of the report is to describe the data, rather than to analyse. Data supplied by countries have been used, but in many cases these have been incomplete. It is expected that data will grow progressively in future. No data on informal health workers are included.
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Content ArticleThe occupational therapy (OT) workforce is under huge pressure. Increased demand coupled with workforce shortages is challenging OTs’ capacity to provide essential support to people whose lives are impacted by long term health conditions and disability. In November 2022, the Royal College of Occupational Therapists surveyed OT practitioners across the UK about the workplace issues they’re facing now, and how these affect the services they deliver to the public. They also asked how practitioners are impacted personally, including whether they intend to continue working as OTs. The challenges shared by over 2,600 respondents have significant implications for the resilience of the current and future OT workforce, and the people who use OT services.
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News ArticlePatients were left on trolleys for up to four days at a major NHS hospital where whistleblowers raised concerns over “unsafe” staffing levels, it has emerged. In a scathing report, the NHS safety watchdog said it found patients waiting on trolleys, in corridors and outside nursing bays at Good Hope and Heartlands hospital, run by the scandal-hit University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. In one incident flagged by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), a patient’s skin ulcers had grown significantly worse while they waited for four days on a trolley without an appropriate mattress. At the time of the inspection, most patients had been waiting for more than two days on trolleys, according to the CQC. The inspection took place in December, after concerns were raised by patients and families over care. The CQC said staff told inspectors they’d been left in “unsafe situations” due to poor staffing. Read full story Source: The Independent, 19 April 2023
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Content ArticleBetween 2000 and 2010, multi-year funding increases and a series of reforms resulted in major improvements in NHS performance. However, performance has declined since 2010 as a result of much lower funding increases, limited funds for capital investment and neglect of workforce planning. Constraints on social care spending have also resulted in fewer people receiving publicly funded social care and a repeated cycle of governments promising to reform social care but failing to do so. As a result, the health and social care sector now finds itself facing unprecedented challenges, from increasing demand and growing waiting lists, to a workforce in crisis. This report by Chris Ham, former Chief Executive of The King’s Fund, analyses how a major public service that is highly valued by the public was allowed to deteriorate. It focuses on the period since 2010 and the factors that contributed to the decline of the NHS after the progress that had been made in the previous decade. While the current situation can feel overwhelming, the improvements that occurred between 2000 and 2010 show that change is possible where the political will exists. The paper concludes by setting out what now needs to be done to sustain and reform the NHS, with a focus on spending decisions, moderating demand and sharing responsibility with patients and the public, alongside a long-term perspective.
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Content ArticleThe Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) released its report on health human resources (HHR) in Canada. The report provides key findings designed to inform stakeholders (including governments). The report provides evidence-informed approaches to addressing the current challenges facing the Canadian health workforce. The three overarching themes were identified: support and retention deployment and service delivery planning and development.
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Content ArticleCalculating nurse staffing in the acute hospital has become a key issue but solutions appear distant. Community, mental health and areas such as learning disability nursing have attracted less attention and remain intractable. This review from Leary and Punshon aimed to examine current approaches to the issue across many disciplines.
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News ArticleA leading surgeon says a major drop-out rate of trainee doctors is "an accident waiting to happen" for the NHS. Nigel Mercer was tasked with prioritising surgery across the NHS during the pandemic when services were under intense pressure. His biggest fear with what he sees as an up to 40% drop-out rate is whether there will be enough doctors to replace his generation of medics. The government said the majority of trainees go on to work in the NHS. "[But] at the moment everyone is so fed up with the system," Mr Mercer said Concerns over pay and conditions are leading many trainees to consider moving to other countries, he said. "You can get much more pay over in Australia and New Zealand and we reckon it's now 40% of medical graduates who are going to leave after their training and that's criminal," he continued. "That's an accident waiting to happen, but if we don't produce high-quality paramedical staff there won't be the ability to train anybody. Read full story Source: BBC News, 12 April 2023
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Content Article
Nursing notes on a scandal (31 March 2023)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Nursing
The tenth anniversary this year of the publication of the Francis Report in 20131 is marked by the largest scale of industrial action ever taken by nurses in the UK for better pay and conditions and, especially, safe staffing. In this article in the Future Healthcare Journal Alison Leary and Anne Marie Rafferty reflect on opportunities missed in the last decade in the attempt to secure safe staffing in nursing. They consider the aftermath of the public inquiry into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust and its consequences for nursing, and how policymakers have consistently ignored a growing body of evidence outlining the benefits of safe staffing. -
News Article
Survey finds 'alarming' number of vacancies in speech and language therapy
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
The chief executive of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) said it is "alarming" that a survey found almost 1 in 4 jobs are vacant across the UK. A survey by the professional body found speech and language therapy (SLT) vacancies across the UK had reached 23% with almost all children's services (96%) and 9 out of 10 adult services (90%) which responded saying recruitment is more or much more challenging than at any time in the past three years. A delay to receiving SLT support can affect a person's ability to communicate with friends and family or to eat and drink as well as a child's ability to access the school curriculum, to regulate their behaviour or to form friendships. The COVID-19 pandemic added to the pressure on SLT services, exacerbating waiting times for assessment and support, as well as adding referrals to see young children whose language and social development was hampered by pandemic restrictions which meant they were not mixing with other children or adults at play groups, nurseries, and schools. RCSLT's new Chief Executive, Steve Jamieson, said, "By the time they are seen by a SLT their needs are a lot more complex and difficult to manage and to treat.” Read full story Source: Medscape, 5 April 2023 -
Content Article
In this joint statement, National Voices, a coalition of health and social care charities in England, supported by 82 charities and professional bodies, call on the Government to act on the serious challenges faced by the NHS and social care workforce, which it states are badly impacting upon people’s experience of health and care. Patient Safety Learning is one of the signatories of this statement. -
News Article
‘Fit-notes’ from nurses and physios to ease GP pressure
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Nurses and physiotherapists can now provide ill patients with “fit-notes” to stay off work in an attempt to ease pressure on GP services. A range of health staff including pharmacists and occupational therapists are certifying illness sign-offs under moves to free up doctors to tackle the treatment backlog. NHS Grampian has successfully completed a pilot scheme at a GP practice which staff described as “really positive” and a step in the right direction. David Cooper, a GP from Old Machar Medical Practice in Aberdeen, said: “It is a more efficient way for us to work as a practice. For the nurses, physiotherapists and others who are working closely with a patient, it makes sense for them to be able to work on fit-notes without having to refer back to a GP for sign off. “We have found it works particularly well for those with chronic, long-term conditions or illness and the process behind the scenes is also now electronic so it saves paper, time and energy.” Paul Gray, a physiotherapist at Old Machar, said: “It makes the patient’s journey easier and it is better for people to access them from those who are assessing your physical capabilities." Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 6 April 2023 -
News Article
Critically ill patients ‘will inevitably die’ due to junior doctors’ strike
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Critically ill patients “will inevitably die” because hospitals are having to cancel surgery as a direct result of next week’s junior doctors’ strike in England, leading heart experts have warned. There were bound to be fatalities among people with serious heart problems whose precarious health meant they were “a ticking timebomb” and needed surgery as soon as possible, they said. They added that patients would face an even greater risk than usual of being harmed or dying if their time-sensitive operation was delayed because NHS heart units would have too few medics available during the four-day stoppage by junior doctors to run normal operating lists. The trio of cardiac experts are senior doctors at the Royal Brompton and Harefield specialist heart and lung hospitals in London. Those facilities, plus the cardiac unit at St Thomas’ hospital in the capital, have between them postponed between 30 and 40 operations they were due to conduct next week on “P2” patients, whose fragile health means they need surgery within 28 days. “It is no exaggeration to say that delaying surgery for this group [P2s] will result in harm. For some, this may be life-changing. For others, it may mean premature death,” said Dr Richard Grocott-Mason, a cardiologist who is also the chief executive of the Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 4 April 2023 -
Content Article
NHS Employers: Improving staff retention (April 2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Culture
As organisations navigate the ongoing impact and fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, they must focus on strengthening the supply of our highly valued workforce and ensure that both new and existing staff are supported and encouraged to remain. In partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement, NHS Employers has refreshed their retention guidelines. There are two main objectives for this guide: first, ensuring it continues to draw on the latest learning and innovation from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced employers to critically re-examine how to retain NHS staff. Second, ensuring it supports the ambitions set out within the NHS People Promise, so that employers can work to make this a lived reality for all NHS staff. To help achieve these objectives, this guide explores the experiences of organisations NHS Employers has worked with on retention. -
News Article
Social care workforce funding halved for England, government confirms
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Funding promised to develop the social care workforce in England has been halved, the government has confirmed. In 2021 the government pledged "at least" £500 million for reforms, to be spent on training places and technology over three years. But that figure is now £250 million, according to the Department of Health. A coalition of charities said this cut is "just the latest in a long series of disappointments" over social care. The government said its reforms would give care "the status it deserves" but some organisations in the sector say they fall short of what is needed. Caroline Abrahams, co-chair of the Care and Support Alliance - which represents more than 70 charities - and charity director of Age UK, said the measures "aren't remotely enough to transform social care". Millions of older and disabled people and their carers "needed something far bigger, bolder and more genuinely strategic to give them hope for the future", she said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 4 April 2023 -
Content ArticleA just and learning culture is the balance of fairness, justice, learning–and taking responsibility for actions. It is not about seeking to blame the individuals involved when care in the NHS goes wrong, nor the absence of responsibility and accountability. This report by NHS Resolution aims to promote the value of a person-centred workplace that is compassionate, safe and fair.
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Content ArticleThis plan from NHS England sets out how the NHS will make maternity and neonatal care safer, more personalised, and more equitable for women, babies, and families. NHS England has engaged a wide range of stakeholders who supported the development of this plan. This includes women and families who have used or are using maternity and neonatal services, members of the maternity and neonatal workforce, leaders and commissioners of services, NHS systems and regional teams, and representatives from Royal Colleges, charities and other organisations.
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Content ArticleA shortage of nurses across the world, including in countries that provide nurses for international recruitment, has created a global health emergency, according to the latest report from the International Council of Nurses. The report, Recover to Rebuild: Investing in the Nursing Workforce for Health System Effectiveness, lays out the devastating impact that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on nurses around the world. It urges that investment in a well-supported global nursing workforce is needed if health systems around the world are to recover and be rebuilt effectively. It also warned against reliance on the “quick fix” of international recruitment instead of investing in nursing education, as this was contributing to staff shortages even in countries with a long tradition of educating nurses to work in higher income countries. The report, co-authored by the organisation's chief executive, Howard Catton, and nursing workforce policy expert Professor James Buchan, includes the findings of workforce surveys from more than 25 countries, including the UK, as well as other research.
