Agencies are not the problem in itself, says NHS locums spend report
31 August 2012
Managing the “often criticised agencies” and their fees is unnecessarily at the heart of the debate about how to reduce locum doctor costs in the NHS.
Fri, 31 Aug 2012
Managing the “often criticised agencies” and their fees is unnecessarily at the heart of the debate about how to reduce locum doctor costs in the NHS.
A new report by NHS Professionals, the state-owned NHS workforce provider, which works with around 80 NHS Trusts, suggests the real solution is more deep-rooted.Procurement frameworks alone cannot fix the problem of rising locum spend, as such issues “go to the very heart of national NHS workforce planning”, according to the report, ‘Medical locum expenditure: treating the disease not the symptoms’.
The report, available online, finds: “Lack of data from one central source within the Trust was identified as an overwhelming reason why Trusts fail to manage locum doctor spend.”
It also notes that “HR and staffing functions cannot own this agenda: it is the responsibility of the Board and senior management team”.
In the healthcare sector focus in the July edition of Recruiter, available here,
Jacqueline Entwistle, managing partner of multi-sector agency Quantum Recruitment, said that care home clients of hers had been able to “reduce their bank [temp] costs by suggesting that they increase hourly rates thus filling their permanent vacancies”, with the result being that higher retention of permanent staff meant there were fewer gaps to fill with bank staff.
The same article also noted a broader tendency to try and avoid agency use, although resourcing professionals speaking to Recruiter for the piece did acknowledge that locum agencies do and always will have a place.
While recruiters are not seen as being the cause of the problem themselves, the document does suggest that “all the participants” in the report “had experience of bad behaviours by agencies and felt that lack of regulation in relation to either price or quality has created a sellers’ market in which unscrupulous agencies quite literally trade on the perceived ‘desperation’ of Trust managers to fill shifts”.
It concludes that “the key to sustained reduction in locum spend is effective medical workforce strategy and planning that is owned by the whole organisation and led by the executive team”.
Managing the “often criticised agencies” and their fees is unnecessarily at the heart of the debate about how to reduce locum doctor costs in the NHS.
A new report by NHS Professionals, the state-owned NHS workforce provider, which works with around 80 NHS Trusts, suggests the real solution is more deep-rooted.Procurement frameworks alone cannot fix the problem of rising locum spend, as such issues “go to the very heart of national NHS workforce planning”, according to the report, ‘Medical locum expenditure: treating the disease not the symptoms’.
The report, available online, finds: “Lack of data from one central source within the Trust was identified as an overwhelming reason why Trusts fail to manage locum doctor spend.”
It also notes that “HR and staffing functions cannot own this agenda: it is the responsibility of the Board and senior management team”.
In the healthcare sector focus in the July edition of Recruiter, available here,
Jacqueline Entwistle, managing partner of multi-sector agency Quantum Recruitment, said that care home clients of hers had been able to “reduce their bank [temp] costs by suggesting that they increase hourly rates thus filling their permanent vacancies”, with the result being that higher retention of permanent staff meant there were fewer gaps to fill with bank staff.
The same article also noted a broader tendency to try and avoid agency use, although resourcing professionals speaking to Recruiter for the piece did acknowledge that locum agencies do and always will have a place.
While recruiters are not seen as being the cause of the problem themselves, the document does suggest that “all the participants” in the report “had experience of bad behaviours by agencies and felt that lack of regulation in relation to either price or quality has created a sellers’ market in which unscrupulous agencies quite literally trade on the perceived ‘desperation’ of Trust managers to fill shifts”.
It concludes that “the key to sustained reduction in locum spend is effective medical workforce strategy and planning that is owned by the whole organisation and led by the executive team”.
