NHS criticised by recruitment trade bodies after rush to action shift work cap.
Leading recruitment industry trade bodies REC & APSCo have criticised government, after the NHS have been provided with insufficient time to introduce changed contracts, that comply with the new cap on the amount recruiters can charge per shift for NHS agency workers.
The change in contract to comply with the new cap, is due to be implemented gradually from 23 November 2015, after consultations closed on Friday 13 November and will affect all NHS agency workers, including doctors and non-clinical personnel.
This short turn-around time has meant that the government are yet to report on their findings from the consultation and has left trade bodies angered.
Samantha Hurley from trade body APSCo
“There is no way that responses can be properly gathered and evaluated within a 10-day timescale – it is clear that their mind is already made up,” she said in a statement.
“Despite engaging with the Department of Health some months ago to offer the benefit of our and our members’ knowledge and experience of working on large public sector procurement contracts, to help the department find practical solutions to the NHS’s current staffing predicament, the government has instead chosen not to consult with the sector and come up with what I can only describe as a knee-jerk reaction which, if implemented, will have dire consequences.”
These views were supported by REC adviser, Vicky O’Brien making a statement to recruiter.co.uk as follows:
“The government has less than five working days to review hundreds of submissions and introduce the new capping regime. Potentially hundreds of agencies and candidates have been in touch with them about this consultation.
The government is supposedly both reporting back on 23 November and starting the implementation. How are trusts supposed to make dramatic adjustments to contracts overnight?”
Tom Hadley – REC’s Director of policy has warned that the governments plans to cap agency workers could lead to a withdrawal of skilled agency staff, with pay rates not reflecting the nature of the temporary role, in turn, making the NHS a less attractive placement for candidates, from both the UK and abroad, making it harder to provide a skilled work force.