NHS demands more for its customers
As the National Health Service looks to become more ‘customer focused’ and deals with continually changing programmes and legislation, we look at what recruitment challenges employers and potential employees face.
Increased demand for service improvement, redesign and commissioning expertise
Following Lord Darzi’s recent report outlining a drive for quality and increased patient choice, the World Class Commissioning programme has been initiated. According to NHS Choices website “Surveys have consistently shown that patients want choice. The 2005 British Social Attitudes survey revealed that 65% of patients said they wanted choice of treatment, 63% wanted a choice of hospital and 53% welcomed a choice of appointment time.”
As a result there has been an increased demand for service improvement, redesign and commissioning expertise, which in turn has created some challenges for organisations recruiting those with this expertise at a senior level.
Firstly due to the technical aspects of the role, many employers request jobseekers with a high level of NHS experience and current service knowledge. With such defined specifications and until now, these skills were needed on a much smaller scale it’s no surprise that there is a lack of talent with the right experience. We’ve worked with some organisations which have looked to broaden the net by recruiting those with transferable skills, not necessarily from the NHS.
Secondly, the often project-led nature of these roles lend themselves nicely to bringing in interims to deliver on a short term basis. However, there is a question on the impact these interims have on the long term stability of the PCT and the ability to deliver a consistent service to its patients.
More and more organisations are combating this by requesting a handover period to ensure all developments, learns and working practices are kept within the organisation. We’ve also seen some organisations try to attract more employees on a permanent basis but can struggle as the salaries are often not nearly as competitive as for those on an interim basis.
In addition, many jobseekers look for flexibility around working hours and practices. They tell us that they would be more inclined to work on a permanent basis if a greater number of organisations improved their flexible working conditions. We urge employers to review what is on offer to potential employees to ensure they give themselves the best opportunity to attract the top talent on a permanent basis.
Candidates who do want to join the ‘traditional’ NHS will have increasing opportunities in commissioning PCTs
World Class Commissioning
With the introduction of the World Class Commissioning programme we expect to see these trends and challenges continue through 2009. We asked two experts in this field their opinion on what skills they expect to be in demand.
Julie Ross, Strategic Head of Commissioning at NHS North East, has played a key role in driving the WCC programme from conception and feels that “PCTs need a range of skills to commission services into the future. PCTs need to complement the traditional NHS skills with business acumen, an understanding of the local health market, procurement rules and a well developed capacity for clinical and public engagement, would form the core of an effective commissioning PCT.”
In Julie’s opinion, those candidates looking to move into the NHS from the private sector now have a wider range of opportunities than previously. “The health care market is expanding - and indeed the private sector is increasingly offering NHS services. Candidates who do want to join the ‘traditional’ NHS will have increasing opportunities in commissioning PCTs as they expand their procurement and market management functions; and foundation trusts as their business models are more akin to the private sector.”
We are aware that all PCTs will have now completed their self-assessments and it is expected that very few will have reached a level 4 in any one of the competencies. According to Philip Masterton-Smith, Senior Strategic Planner at SW Essex PCT “Most PCTs are at the initial stage in this process and beginning to acquire the skills and competencies required for World Class Commissioning. Senior managers and directors recognise that there is a long way to go and are currently seeking to enhance their capabilities.”
Related article:
Tower Hamlets PCT wins the World Class Commissioning category at the HSJ awards 2008
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