Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Recruitment'.
Found 268 results
-
News Article
Cancer doctor hiring freezes rise in nearly every region
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Cancer centres in nearly every region of England reported significant rises in recruitment freezes to oncology posts over the past year, according to new figures shared with HSJ. The Royal College of Radiologists’ president Stephen Harden warned that the growing constraints highlighted by the college’s research came at a time when cancer performance had stagnated – and that the NHS “desperately needed [more staff] to turn this round”. An exclusive regional breakdown calculated by the RCR based on its annual oncology workforce census, and shared with HSJ, found every region apart from two reported rises in the number of centres implementing recruitment freezes for oncology posts in 2025. The RCR’s Dr Harden said: “We completely get that we’re in a financially constrained environment but now is really not the time to be limiting recruitment to cancer posts, particularly around diagnosis and treatment. “Extra staff are desperately needed to turn this thing around. Waiting a month for your scan results – and longer – is not really what we should be about”. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 18 June 2026 -
News Article
CQC gets caretaker chair after ‘regrettable’ delay
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An interim chair has been appointed to the Care Quality Commission, which has bemoaned a “regrettable” delay in recruiting a permanent successor. Non-executive director Kay Boycott will take on the role from 1 June until 31 July unless a substantive chair is appointed earlier. At Care Quality Commission’s board meeting on Wednesday, Ms Boycott said the new health secretary, James Murray, had not yet put forward his preferred candidate for the position. That person will also need to go before MPs at the Commons’ health and social care committee before appointment. She said the continued delay was “regrettable”. Sir Mike Richards announced he would be retiring in February, but at the time said he would stay until a replacement chair was in place. However, Ms Boycott said Sir Mike had decided to step down for “personal reasons” at the end of last month, after the process took longer than expected. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 3 June 2026 -
News Article
Unqualified therapist treated patients for 10 months
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An individual worked as a cognitive behavioural therapist at a trust for 10 months without having the qualifications to do so, HSJ can reveal. The “patient safety event” at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust was attributed to a “lack of scrutiny” during the recruitment process. Patients who had CBT sessions - a type of talking therapy for people with mental health conditions - with this individual were informed earlier this year, according to local media. HSJ has now obtained an integrated care board committee document which discussed the incident via a Freedom of Information request. The document said the trust realised in August 2025 that a substantive member of staff had been “delivering care as a cognitive behavioural therapist to Lancashire and South Cumbria residents”, despite not having the required qualifications or accreditations. The individual had been working in this role since November 2024, according to the quality and outcomes committee risk and escalation report. It said: “A lack of scrutiny of this individual’s qualifications/accreditation during the recruitment process has been attributed to this patient safety event.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 20 April 2026 -
News Article
Health NHS faces migrant staff exodus as workers feel unwelcome in UK
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Two in five international health workers are considering leaving the UK, with many citing feelings of not being welcome amid anti-immigrant rhetoric. The union Unison warns that government proposals to tighten settlement rules for migrant workers, coupled with escalating visa fees and restrictions, threaten to deepen the ongoing NHS staffing crisis. A Unison survey of nearly 1,900 international health professionals working in Britain found that 43% are now considering departure, with a quarter feeling unwelcome and a fifth reporting they feel unsafe. The union’s head of health Helga Pile said: “The UK’s health and care services would collapse without the skilled workers who’ve come here from overseas. How we treat them matters – they should be respected, not taken advantage of and abused. “It’s shocking so many NHS staff say they don’t feel safe or welcome in this country. No wonder so many are thinking of leaving. “These findings make it clear ministers must think again about trebling the settlement period for crucial migrant health and care staff. Otherwise, the workforce crisis will get worse. “Politicians of all stripes need to stop demonising people who are doing crucial work, often for very low pay. They’re the ones shoring up the UK’s crumbling health and care sectors. We simply cannot do without them.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 14 April 2026 -
Content ArticleIn 2010, the English NHS employed around 95,000 doctors. Five years later, it was 105,000; five years after that, 124,000; and last year, the total reached 154,000. That’s a 58% increase in 15 years (and 24% in the last five). The same analysis reveals a 22% increase in the number of nurses (300,000 to 367,000). However, the number of nurses went down during the coalition years. The increase since 2015 has been 33%. So, in 2010, there were – very roughly - 560 people per doctor and 180 per nurse. Today those numbers are – again very roughly – 380 and 160. respectively. So what happened to NHS performance, patient satisfaction, and doctor happiness over that period? Whatever the answer to the NHS’s woes is, it is clearly not simply “more doctors and nurses”, writes Alastair McLellan in this HSJ article.
-
News Article
Plans to cut NHS international workforce appear overambitious, say MPs
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Ministers’ plans to cut the international workforce within NHS England appear overambitious, MPs have said, as a report reveals the health service saved more than £14bn by recruiting doctors, nurses and midwives from overseas. Many of the countries recruited from were struggling with staff shortages, and the UK had a moral duty to offer support, rather than simply extracting what it needed, the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on global health and security found. The group’s inquiry into the benefits and costs of international health worker recruitment heard that the scale of NHS reliance on overseas workers meant the government’s plan to reduce international recruitment to around 10% by 2035 was overambitious. “The NHS has not operated at that level for decades,” said Andrew Mitchell, the former development minister who chaired the inquiry. Thirty-six per cent of UK doctors and 24% of nurses and midwives were trained elsewhere in the world. The number of visas granted to healthcare professionals has fallen sharply in recent years. But overseas staff would be needed “for the foreseeable future”, the APPG said. Mitchell added: “We must grow our own workforce. But in a shrinking world, pretending health workforces are purely national assets, is no longer credible. If we benefit from health workers trained overseas, we also have a duty to help strengthen the systems they come from.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 16 March 2026 -
News ArticleHospitals and care homes in the UK face “an impending car crash”, experts have warned, as research shows the number of overseas nurses and carers has collapsed. Analysis of Home Office quarterly data reveals the number of overseas nurses granted entry to the UK has fallen by 93% over three years. Just 1,777 overseas nurses were granted entry in 2025, compared with 26,100 in 2022. Visas for workers in the caring personal service occupations category – which includes care workers, but also nursing auxiliaries, ambulance staff and dental workers – had the steepest decline in new workers from overseas in absolute terms. The figure fell from 107,847 workers granted entry in 2023 to just 3,178 in 2025, a 97% decline over two years. Only 23 overseas care workers were granted entry from October to December 2025. The study, by the charity Work Rights Centre, highlights the impact of the UK’s lurch to the right on migration, which some economists fear will compound skill shortages, inflation, tax rises and problems meeting the needs of an ageing population. Overall, the number of skilled worker visas issued has fallen for the ninth consecutive quarter to the lowest levels since 2021, as fewer migrant care workers, nurses, scientists, therapists, education professionals and tradespeople come to the UK, where visa conditions have been systematically tightened. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 26 February 2026
-
Content ArticleThis is a rare opportunity to lead an organisation-wide transformation in health and safety — moving from a predominantly compliance-based approach (Safety-I) to an integrated assurance and learning-based approach (Safety-II). You will help embed a modern view of safety that connects statutory compliance, incident learning, workforce wellbeing, leadership behaviours and safety culture — making safer work easier to deliver every day. Your role Act as Somerset Care’s named competent person (Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations). Provide professional advice and support to leaders (with operational leaders retaining accountability for managing risks). Work cross-functionally with Property, Quality, HR and Operations. Design and embed a new Health & Safety Assurance Framework. Introduce a quarterly Health & Safety Assurance Report for ELT and the Quality Committee. Support business continuity planning, policy review and development. What you’ll deliver Health & Safety Assurance Framework designed, implemented and embedded. Quarterly Health & Safety Assurance Report providing meaningful oversight and insight. Safety-II learning mechanisms embedded (e.g., good catches, learning reviews, proactive safety behaviours). Improved action tracking, assurance follow-through and visibility of risk controls. Consistent competent person advice and practical guidance across services. Capability and engagement strengthened so safer work becomes easier to deliver. About you You are an experienced change leader with strong health and safety professional competence. You can operate credibly as Somerset Care’s named competent person while leading an organisation-wide programme to design, implement and embed a modern health and safety assurance and learning system aligned to Safety-II principles. You are comfortable influencing at senior level, translating complex information into clear assurance, and engaging colleagues across services. Find out more and apply at the link below:
-
News ArticleBritish medics will “turn their backs on the NHS” if they are not prioritised for specialty training, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has warned. Mr Streeting warned the health service must “break our over-reliance on international recruitment”, as he unveiled plans to give UK and Irish medical graduates precedence for these vital training places. Specialty training marks the final stage of a doctor’s qualification, focusing on a specific medical field or general practice. The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill, due for Commons discussion on Tuesday, would also see British and Irish graduates prioritised for foundation training. Setting out the bill, the health secretary said: “We’ve known for years that the treatment of resident doctors is often totally unacceptable and the very real fears about their futures are wholly justified. “Every time I’ve met a resident doctor, either formally or informally, they tell me, without fail, how their careers are blocked because there are far too many applicants for training places. “Not only do I think they have a legitimate grievance, I agree with them.” Mr Streeting warned that if they do not deal with the issue, “the resentment it causes will just get worse” and British medics will “turn their backs on the NHS”. Read full story Source: The Independent, 28 January 2026
-
Content ArticleThe irony is palpable and unpleasant: unemployed and underemployed GPs are struggling to find NHS work, while patients can’t get a GP appointment when they want one. With public satisfaction with general practice at record lows, this is not a tenable situation for a government committed to improving access to general practice. For over a decade, England struggled with a lack of GPs. Faced with high and rising workloads, many GPs cut their clinical hours. Others retired, or took jobs outside general practice. Practices struggled to recruit, and GP training places went unfilled. Challenges with high GP workload, burnout and falling job satisfaction remain, but in the past two years the labour market in general practice has changed significantly. From practices clamouring for recruits, GPs are now clamouring for practices to recruit them. This short paper from the Nuffield Trust explores the mix of reasons behind the underemployment of GPs in England.
-
Content ArticleThe Office of the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland is recruiting for two Policy and Investigations Officers. Closing date:10:00 on 12 November 2025 Further information on the role can be found from the link below. The Office of the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland plays a vital role in strengthening the safety and quality of healthcare across the nation. Independent of government and the NHS, the Office amplifies the voices of patients and families, identifying systemic risks and driving evidence-based improvements that make healthcare safer for all. Through rigorous, impartial investigations and constructive engagement with health bodies, regulators, and patient groups, the Office seeks to uncover and address the underlying causes of harm—ensuring that learning from adverse events leads to enduring improvements in policy, practice, and culture across Scotland’s health system. Working with the Commissioner and the Executive Director of Patient Safety, the Policy and Investigations Officer will provide specialist research, investigative and policy support to the Patient Safety Commissioner (PSC) for Scotland. The postholder will lead and contribute to inquiries, reviews, and site-based investigations across NHS and independent healthcare providers. They will ensure that the voices of patients, families, advocacy groups and frontline staff are heard, and that findings inform recommendations and reports to Parliament and Ministers. To be successful in this role, you will have experience in health, policy, regulation, patient safety, investigations, advocacy, or a related area. You should also have proven experience of conducting site-based investigations or inspections in healthcare, regulation or similar settings. It is essential that you have knowledge of healthcare operations, including procedures, waiting list management, medication systems, and medical device use. Strong analytical skills are required for this role, with the ability to interpret and integrate complex information from multiple sources. You should also have knowledge of data protection, confidentiality and ethical frameworks for handling sensitive information.
-
Content ArticleThis one-page guide outlines six ways health systems in Canada can improve to better support and retain the health workforce. Based on evidence and feedback from health leaders nationwide, it describes six strategies that can help make health systems more supportive and sustainable for those who work in them: Fostering physically safe work environments. Enhancing sustainable staffing. Building flexible work structures. Provide equitable and appropriate compensation. Ensuring supportive and inclusive workplaces. Supporting career advancement. Although produced by Healthcare Excellence Canada, it is relevant to health systems globally.
-
Content ArticleThe Royal College of Anaesthetists 'Our State of the Nation 2024' report shows the dire shortage of anaesthetists is limiting the ability of the NHS to reduce patient waiting lists, as the UK lags behind the rest of Europe in anaesthetic staffing levels. With only 14 anaesthetists per 100,000 people, the UK ranks 26th in Europe, far below comparable countries like Germany, where the equivalent figure is 37, Italy (25) and even some lower income countries like Moldova (16). The shortage of anaesthetists prevents around 1.4 million operations and procedures from taking place each year. The RCoA warns this figure could increase to 8.25 million unless the government invests in training more anaesthetists because most operations cannot take place without one. On average across the UK, the number of anaesthetists is 15% lower than needed, although there is some national and regional variation. The shortage is slightly worse in Wales (17%) than the other UK nations and within England, the shortfall is greatest in the East of England and the North-West, at 18% lower than needed. The report highlights there are currently thousands of doctors who want to train as anaesthetists but there are not enough training posts for them to do so. This year there were 3,520 applications for an available 540 core anaesthetic training places. At the same time, NHS trusts and health boards are increasingly using expensive agency locum staff to plug gaps. In 2022, there were 399 locum consultants working in NHS trusts and health boards, a much costlier option than a permanent consultant anaesthetist. The shortage also puts anaesthetists under increasing pressure as they struggle with additional workload, fuelling burnout and compounding the NHS retention crisis. Of anaesthetists who retired or left the profession early, 25% did so because of issues to do with mental wellbeing, burnout, or stress. And one in five anaesthetists surveyed in 2021 said they intended to leave the NHS within five years. The report calls for urgent intervention to fund more anaesthetic training places, both in the immediate and long term and for urgent implementation of measures to improve retention of anaesthetists currently working in the NHS.
-
Content ArticleThis report explores the workforce challenges facing general practice in England, and highlights the pressing need to address the reasons why GPs are leaving the profession or reducing their contracted hours.
-
News Article
NHS managers must undergo ‘cultural intelligence training’ says watchdog
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
NHS managers should receive “cultural intelligence training” to tackle issues such as “the legacy of the British Empire” and improve the experience of overseas recruits, the National Guardian’s Office has recommended. The NGO’s report examined the experience of international recruits to the NHS, with a particular focus on their willingness to speak out about concerns. It found overseas staff face disproportionately higher scrutiny, are given limited support and are often penalised before they have had time to settle into their role. International recruits often felt “invisible”, the report concluded. The report states the responsibility for adapting, including the implications for speaking up, was often on overseas-trained staff and “a lack of cultural intelligence” was a “repeated theme”, according to the body which leads, trains and supports a network of Freedom to Speak Up Guardians in England. It said this highlighted the need for better understanding and outreach by employers. The NGO calls for “a meaningful approach to cultural competence” which goes “beyond superficial gestures like cultural exchange days”. It stated that: “A two-way process of cultural intelligence is needed, where organisations actively seek to understand and adapt to the experiences and perspectives of overseas-trained workers.” Most FTSU Guardians said training on speaking up was available in their organisations, however, only 16.9% surveyed said their organisations provided training to managers on how to support overseas-trained workers. More than half said they did not know if any such training existed. The report recommends NHS England includes “cultural intelligence training” for NHS staff, managers and leaders as part of its Leadership and Management Framework programme by April 2026. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 1 May 2025 -
News ArticleAround 49,000 A&E patients had to wait 24 hours or more for a hospital bed in England last year, according to NHS figures. Data compiled by the Liberal Democrats from freedom of information requests shows the longest wait was 10 days and 13 hours. The party said there were 48,830 "trolley waits" of 24 hours or longer in 2024. That is 19.8% higher than 2023 (40,735) and 57.9% higher than 2022 (30,921). A "trolley wait" is the time taken for a patient to be transferred to a ward after a decision has been taken to admit them to hospital. The Lib Dems said the real numbers were likely to be far higher because only 54 out of 141 NHS trusts had provided full data. The Royal College of Nursing said the figures "only begin to scratch the surface" of a "crisis in corridor care" - and that declining recruitment in nursing was adding to the problem. General secretary Professor Nicola Ranger said corridor care is "undignified and unsafe" and "must be eradicated". Read full story Source: Sky News, 21 April 2025 Further reading on the hub: How corridor care in the NHS is affecting safety culture: A blog by Claire Cox The crisis of corridor care in the NHS: patient safety concerns and incident reporting Response to RCN report: On the frontline of the UK’s corridor care crisis
-
News Article
Systems still reliant on agency staff
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Six systems are still using more than 30% of their temporary staffing spend to employ agency workers, HSJ research has revealed. The investigation also highlights that the NHS will need to reduce spending on bank staff by almost as much as that on agency workers for the first time. Internal NHS England figures seen by HSJ reveal providers were on course to spend £8.3bn on temporary staffing in 2024-25, down from just under £10bn the previous year. Three quarters of the overall spend in 2024-25 (£6bn) went on employing bank workers, with the remainder used for agency staff. Providers have been encouraged to shift agency workers to their staff banks for a number of years. However, HSJ research has revealed some systems are still struggling to move away from a reliance on agency staff. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 22 April 2025 Related reading on the hub: Speaking up as an agency nurse cost me my career My experience as an agency nurse -
News Article
'The NHS can't tell me where my job will be'
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Jayne Evans has completed four years at medical school in London - but says she is still being left in the dark about where her first permanent NHS position will be. "I was told that I don't have a job set aside for me," she said. "They've guaranteed we will only be offered jobs other people decline and there's just no sort of timeline that they can give us." Ms Evans has been given a rough idea of where she will be working - the Trent area, which spans almost all of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire - but no further clues. She is one of hundreds of newly-qualified medical students who have not been found a specific job by the NHS yet. Instead they have a so-called "placeholder job", meaning they have only been told the rough part of the country they will be in. Without knowing where they will be living, they say they are not able to start preparations for moving. Ms Evans said it had overshadowed her achievement in qualifying. "I was expecting around this time to feel excited or even nervous, but now mostly I just feel angry and disrespected," she said. "I went into medicine and was told we needed doctors and the NHS needs help but I've been told there is no job for me." Dr Hassan Nassar was one of more than 1,000 medical students in the same position last year. The BMA, the union that represents doctors and medical students in the UK, has accused the government of failing to plan for an increase in resident doctors - formerly known as junior doctors - after increasing the number of medical school places. "The government has increased the number of medical school places - but not the number of foundation jobs," Callum Williams, the union's deputy chair of education, said. "The government needs to increase that funding - and these jobs should go to UK-trained doctors first." Mr Williams said there was a danger students would move abroad. "It's your first job with the NHS, it is supposed to be exciting and instead it leaves a sour taste in your mouth," he said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 April 2025 -
News ArticleBrexit has left the NHS increasingly dependent on doctors and nurses from poor “red list” countries, from which the World Health Organization says it is wrong to recruit. The health service in England has hired tens of thousands of health staff from countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe since the UK left the EU single market at the end of 2020. A post-Brexit surge in the number of health professionals from red list countries working in England has sparked criticism that hiring so many is “unethical” and “immoral”, and will damage those countries’ health systems. The big jump means the NHS now employs 65,610 staff from the WHO’s 55 red list countries in its 1.5 million-strong workforce. It has taken on 32,935 of those since the start of 2021, including 20,665 who joined in the 20 months between March 2023 and November 2024 alone, according to NHS figures obtained by the Nuffield Trust health thinktank. Mark Dayan, a policy analyst at the thinktank and Brexit programme lead, said: “Recruiting on this scale, from countries the World Health Organization believe have troublingly few staff, is difficult to justify ethically for a still much wealthier country. “Yet again, British failure to train enough healthcare staff has been bailed out by those trained overseas.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 March 2025
-
News Article
Why does no one want Scotland’s £90k patient safety job?
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Applications have re-opened for a £90,000-a-year patient safety role after two previous attempts to fill the role were unsuccessful. MSPs passed a law creating the post of Scotland's first ever Patient Safety Commissioner in September 2023. But despite a hefty salary, they have been unable to fill the post. The first round of interviews in April last year was unsuccessful with the cross party panel of MSPs turning down all of the candidates who were interviewed. The second round in November saw them offer the job to one candidate but they turned it down. The Commissioner’s role is to “advocate for the systematic improvement in the safety of health care and to promote the importance of the views of patients and other members of the public in relation to the safety of health care". It was created in the wake of a UK Government commissioned review of the hormonal pregnancy test Primodos, Sodium Valproate in pregnancy and transvaginal surgical mesh. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Herald, 10 February 2025 -
Content ArticleOne in three medical students plan to quit the NHS within two years of graduating, either to practise abroad or abandon medicine altogether, according to a survey published in BMJ Open. Poor pay, work-life balance and working conditions of doctors in the UK were the main factors cited by those intending to emigrate to continue their medical career. The same reasons were also given by those planning to quit medicine altogether, with nearly 82% of them also listing burnout as an important or very important reason. The findings from the study of 10,486 students at the UK’s 44 medical schools triggered calls for action to prevent an exodus of medical students from the NHS.
-
Content ArticleGeorgia Stevenson discusses NHS England’s Long Term Workforce Plan, evaluating its potential to alleviate staffing shortages, enhance training routes, and ultimately improve care quality in maternity and neonatal services.
-
Content ArticleThe UK government’s long-awaited NHS workforce plan for England outlines a vision to increase the number of nursing staff in England over the next 15 years, with a promise of 170,000 more nurses by 2036/37. This article from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) outlines how the detail of the plan will affect nurses. It argues that the plan fails to acknowledge the financial investment needed if its objectives are to be fulfilled, and expresses the RCN's concern that it does not address financial support for student nurses. Key proposals affecting nursing staff More training places will be offered through degree apprenticeships so staff can “earn while they learn”. Nursing students could take up jobs as soon as they graduate, rather than waiting until September. The plan asks the NMC to consider greater use of simulated learning in order to reduce clinical placement hours for nursing degree students. Investment in occupational health and wellbeing services for staff. Flexible working options will be considered for every job. An intention to reduce reliance on international recruitment from nearly a quarter of staff to about 10% of the workforce. Reform the NHS pension from this year to make it easier to partially retire or return to work. A potential ban on substantive staff working agency shifts.
-
Content ArticleThis report by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) highlights the impact of midwifery staffing shortages on women. It looks at historical failures to invest appropriately in maternity services and talks about a mounting maternity crisis, drawing attention to Care Quality Commission inspections of maternity services that are identifying concerns around safety directly linked to staffing shortages. According to the report’s findings, if the number of NHS midwives in England had risen at the same pace as the overall health service workforce since the last general election, there would be no midwife shortage; there would be 3,100 more midwives in the NHS, rather than having a shortfall of 2,500 full-time midwives. The RCM published the results of a survey last month which showed that midwives give 100,000 hours of free labour to the NHS per week to ensure safe care for women. It also showed that staffing levels were repeatedly cited as cause for concern around the safety of care, and that midwives and maternity support workers are exhausted and burnt out.
-
Content ArticleAn independent review of how effectively the test prevents unsuitable staff from being redeployed or re-employed in health and social care settings. The review was led by Tom Kark QC. It sets out 7 recommendations, including: developing competencies for directors making a central database of directors’ qualifications, training and appraisals expanding the definition of serious misconduct. The current fit and proper persons test is designed to ensure that senior staff who are responsible for quality and safety of care are fit and proper to be in their roles. The test applies to directors in the NHS, the independent healthcare sector and the adult social care sector.
