As healthcare sector budgets come under increasing scrutiny, recruiters have been urged to provide ‘value for money’ by Nichola Hooper, national resourcing manager at Bupa Care Services.

New health secretary Andrew Lansley has announced plans for family doctors to be forced to take back responsibility for out-of-hours care. Budgetary responsibility would then be handed back from primary care trusts to GPs who will commission services or provide them by working in rotas through local groups.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) says that recruiters have a crucial role in providing value for money by providing a ‘cost-effective’ staffing solution.

Tom Hadley, the REC’s director of external relations, says: “Whoever holds budgetary responsibility, the key is to ensure that patients receive the right levels of care. Locum doctors and other temporary staff provide crucial front line services and their contribution must not be marginalised, especially as working time rules now place strict limits on individual GP working hours.

“Despite the focus on new rota systems, specialised recruitment agencies will continue to provide a cost effective means of ensuring that the right staff are in the right place at the right time.”

Hooper told Recruiterthat recruiters must provide value for money along with entering into a long-term partnership, adding that staffing firms should resist sending speculative CVs and pressurising candidates.

For more from Hooper, see Recruiter’s Healthcare sector focus, 26 May.