Health Management and Policy Alert

Closing the gap: a guide to addressing racial discrimination in disciplinaries

NHS Providers - 

Despite annual measurement and reporting on this metric since 2015, the disciplinary gap in the NHS persists, with ethnic minority staff being disproportionately likely to enter formal disciplinary processes compared to their white counterparts. This guide, produced in collaboration in collaboration with the healthcare law firm Hempsons aims to support board members to have an increased awareness and understanding of the existing disparity and provides practical advice and examples of how the gap can be reduced.

• Guide
• Press release

NHS Pension Scheme: member contributions phase 2 and miscellaneous amendments

Department of Health and Social Care - 

This consultation sets out proposals to make amendments to NHS Pension Scheme regulations. The proposals are to: deliver phase 2 of the review of member contributions; introduce a new employer pension contribution rate in line with the results of the 2020 scheme valuation; permanently remove abatement for special class status (SCS) members in line with the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay deal for 2023 to 2024; and make further miscellaneous amendments. This consultation closes at 11:59pm on 7 January 2024.

• Consultation document
• More detail

Exclusion trends and evaluation of NHS Resolution resources to manage exclusions

NHS Resolution - 

NHS Resolution’s Practitioner Performance Advice service has published this data and analysis of doctors and dentists exclusion trends. The paper looks at episodes of formal exclusion in England on which advice was requested in the four-year period 2019/20 to 2022/23, and finds a decrease in formal exclusions. It also reports on the evaluation of the resources published last year to support good practice and fairness in documenting and managing the exclusion process.

• Paper
• Press release

The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England 2023

Skills for Care -
This report covers the year from April 2022 to March 2023, which saw some improvements in workforce capacity - largely driven by an increase in international recruitment - including more posts being filled, fewer vacancies and less turnover. It also highlights ongoing trends for the sector, including 390,000 people leaving their jobs - with around a third of them leaving the sector altogether. The report also identifies five factors that are key to retaining staff: being paid more than the minimum wage; not being on a zero-hours contract; being able to work full-time; being able to access training; having a relevant qualification.

• Report
• Skills for Care - publications
• Skills for Care - news

Supporting SAS doctor development at East London NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Employers - 

Specialty and specialist (SAS) doctors at East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) wanted to develop their leadership skills and in particular their involvement in quality improvement work. ELFT held a quality improvement training day tailored to the SAS workforce to support development and encourage sign up to its improvement leader’s programme.

• Case study

Retention in public services: how can government keep workers in the NHS, schools and police?

Institute for Government - 

Public sector workforces face problems, from loss of experienced staff to high turnover and vacancies. This report outlines the recent workforce trends and the impact of poor retention on public service performance. This report analyses the causes of high staff exit rates and offer recommendations for overcoming these.

• Report
• More detail

Understanding the impact of changes to the UK Health and Care Visa System on the adult social care workforce in England, phase 1: the visa study

King's College London - 

In February 2022, the Health and Care visa was extended to include care workers, following the addition of this job role to the shortage occupation list. Home Office figures report that the number of applications and Health and Care visas granted has steadily increased since care workers were added. Latest figures (June 2023) indicate that visas granted to care workers comprised about 50 per cent of visas granted within the ‘Health and Care Worker’ visa category. This report presents an insight into the experiences behind these figures, focusing on key stakeholder groups: internationally recruited workers, diverse care providers across England, legal/recruitment agencies and sector skills experts.

• Report
• Press release

Pharmacy Workforce Race Equality Standard report

NHS England -
This standard sets out to improve equality, diversity and inclusion in pharmacy teams in the NHS. This report provides the first national overview of the varied experiences that registered pharmacy professionals and wider team members in NHS trusts face.

• Report
• NHS England - publications

Workforce wellbeing roundtable report

Royal Pharmaceutical Society -
This report is the outcome of a roundtable event in May 2023 attended by representatives from the NHS, professional bodies, employers, trade unions, education and regulators. It provides an overview of the current wellbeing situation being faced by pharmacy teams, the evidence of the impact of poor wellbeing and provides some recommendations on how to support the pharmacy workforce. It concludes that the responsibility for the wellbeing of pharmacists and pharmacy teams does not sit with one body but requires a system wide approach that includes the NHS, professional bodies, employers, trade unions, education, charities, regulators and individual pharmacy team members.

• Report
• Royal Pharmaceutical Society - news

Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE)

Reducing misogyny and improving sexual safety in the ambulance service

The AACE, together with the Office of the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer (CAHPO), have launched three publications aimed at reducing misogyny and improving sexual safety in the ambulance service: 'What we know', 'Consensus statement' and 'Next steps'.

• Publications