Date: 1 st June 2016

Transcription

1 Item 6.3 Meeting: Trust Board Public Meeting Date: 1 st June 2016 Title of Paper: Director of HR and Diversity Board Report June 2016 Key Issues: (Actions, Timescales, Costs etc.) National updates include: NHS Employers commissioned report on Workforce Reshaping which gives expert guidance on workforce configuration to achieve the Five Year Forward View Junior Doctors Contract Negotiations have resulted in a proposed agreement to go out to ballot The NHS Working Longer Group have produced useful resources to support the continued employment and reemployment of the aging workforce Updated Guidance for the NHS Employment Check Standards have been released which simplifies and clarifies the standards Local Updates include workforce data for each Care Group and Support Services, as well as an update on the recruitment position, sickness rates and Occupational health referrals, our workforce costs and the Annual Staff Survey. Links to Strategic Aims: Deliver high quality, safe and effective services Maintain a sustainable business to ensure that we can continue to care in the future Risk Issues: The top risk areas within Human Resources remains the inability to recruit to some posts within the Trust as highlighted in previous HRD reports. Recommendations: The Trust Board is asked to note and comment on the content of the Director of HR and Diversity Board Report. Author of Report: Miriam Heppell, Deputy Director of HR and Diversity 1

2 1. Introduction Director of Human Resources and Diversity Operational Management Group Report June 2016 The Director of Human Resources and Diversity provides a monthly report to the Trust Board. This includes an update on relevant national and local events and publications as well as any key updates on Human Resources, Training and Education, Payroll and Occupational Health Services. 2. National Update and Context 2.1 NHS Employers commissioned report on Workforce Reshaping The Nuffield Trust, in association with NHS Employers, has published a new report which suggests that developing the existing non-medical workforce is vital for trusts to meet the changing needs of patients. NHS Employers commissioned the research to look at how NHS staffing could be reorganised to support new models of delivering care. In the report Reshaping the workforce to deliver the care patients need, it is argued that trusts should consider developing the current workforce as an urgent priority, beginning with a deep understanding of patients needs, then train, recruit and skill the workforce to meet those needs. The research considers the impacts and benefits of developing the following roles within the non-medical workforce: the support workforce, including healthcare assistants registered healthcare professionals advanced practice roles for nurses, to fill gaps in the medical workforce the new physician associate role. The study also highlights key considerations including time, capacity and the need for careful role redesign. It has been informed by case studies, interviews, a survey of local Health Education England leaders and a literature review. It gives guidance on the significant organisational development challenge ahead for all Trusts, arguing that the changing of curricula for trainee professionals and the development of new roles are not enough to meet the challenge laid out in the Five Year Forward View and that the answer lies in developing the skills of the current workforce. The report also lays out what it argues are the 10 most important lessons for NHS Trusts looking to redesign their workforce: 1. Be realistic about the time and capacity needed to support change 2. Create a receptive culture for change 3. Support transformation with a strong communications and change management strategy 2

3 4. Build roles on a detailed understanding of the work, staff skills and patients needs 5. Invest in the team, not just the role 6. Ensure robust triage mechanisms 7. Develop and invest in a training capability 8. Build sustainability for new and extended roles 9. Evaluate change 10. Adopt a systematic approach to workforce development and change It is a very useful report, which gives expert and evidence based guidance on why and how to reshape the workforce, giving examples of different approaches that have already been used and the positives benefits and pitfalls that have been experienced, as well as looking in detail at those areas which have yet to be fully explored. The report could be used as a blueprint to support the Trust s transformation plans and the challenging workforce planning agenda. To read the report in detail, it can be accessed here Junior Doctors Contract Negotiations Agreement has been reached in junior doctor contract negotiations between the British Medical Association Junior Doctors Committee, NHS Employers and the Secretary of State for Health, supported by ACAS, following a pause in the both the imposition of the contract and industrial action by doctors. The full contract agreed by parties is due for publication at the end of May, communicated via roadshows between the 31 st May and 17 th June and the final referendum will take place between the 17 th June and 1 st July 2016, with the result expected on 6 th July NHS Working Longer Group produce resources The NHS Working Longer Group, a national working party set up in 2013, made up of Trade Unions, managers and HR professionals, has produced a guide to the resources available to employers to raise awareness of the aging workforce and provide resources to support the identification of issues that could make working to a higher retirement age more difficult, and to capture practices enabling staff to work longer. Resources includes an age awareness toolkit for managers and information to improve understanding of the NHS pension scheme. The resources are available at Updated Guidance for the NHS Employment Check Standards NHS Employers have undertaken a review of the NHS Employment Check Standards which lay out the requirements for Trusts when recruiting staff. The legal requirements have not changed greatly, but the revised standards provide more clarity around the practical applications of the checks, more flexibility on 3

4 documentation, as well as recognition of new types of documentation which can be accepted. A range of resources have been made available to help streamline local recruitment processes and manage risk without compromising standards. Examples of the changes are: A new emphasis on face to face meetings as part of the minimum requirements for identity checking A revised recommended list of acceptable documents, allowing more wider flexibility Further guidance and standardisation when requesting and giving references Clarity on the use of character references Additional clarity on the process of validating professional qualifications and assessing language competency Clarity on risk assessment for work health assessments Guidance on the employment of refugees Clarity around Disclosure and Barring Checks, including the storing of criminal record information and checks for different individuals and groups The HR team will be undertaking a review of the revised standards alongside the review of our recruitment processes, to help simplify the requirements. A summary of the changes is available here ks%20new%20april%202016/employment%20checks%20review%202016%20fin al_update.pdf 3. Local Updates 3.1 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) by Care Group and Corporate Appendix 1 shows the key HR performance indicators for each of the Care Groups and support services as at 30 th April Narrative for each care group is included below Children s and Learning Disability Services Vacancies and Recruitment Vacancies being recruited to in the Care Group have increased this month from 31 to 40.9 including 6 x band 5 nursing posts in Community Learning Disability, a number of speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and clinical psychologists across the care group, as well as a school nurse, a health visitor and a number of others. Employee Relations Casework Disciplinaries in the Care Group have increased to 9 from 2 this month and Managing Attendance cases have increased to 28 from 17. There remain no 4

5 grievances in the Care Group and there is a decrease of 1 to having 2 capability cases to manage. Personal Appraisal Development Reviews (PADR) PADR compliance in the Care Group has reduced to 87% from 90% achieved in the previous month, however using a rolling 15 month compliance figure, this increases to 94%. Training Training compliance has increased to 85% from 82% in March. Sickness Sickness remains lower than the Trust average and target at 3.77%, with a very small increase of 0.01% from last month Adult Mental Health Vacancies and Recruitment The vacancies in the Care Group being recruited to in the Care Group have decreased to 61.2 from in March. A rolling advert for the Registered Adult Mental Health Nurse vacancies in place with the current closing date being October of the vacancies have been filled this month taking the number from 17 to 15. Employee Relations Casework Disciplinaries in the Care Group have increased this month from 5 to 11. Grievances are still high with 8 cases this month, the same as last month. There are 2 ongoing capability cases within the Care Group this month, and an increase of 4 Managing Attendance cases to 60. Personal Appraisal Development Reviews PADR compliance in the Care Group has reduced to 86% from 87% in March, however using the rolling 15 month compliance figure this increases to 93%. Training Training compliance across the Care Group has increased to 82% from 79% in March. 5

6 Sickness Sickness remains slightly above the Trust average at 5.8%. The formal management of attendance has increased significantly over the past 4 months to ensure a fair and consistent approach to supporting staff who are unwell and provide adjustments when necessary to support staff back into work Community and Older People s Mental Health Vacancies and Recruitment Vacancies being recruited to in the Care Group have increased again this month to 87.6 from 74.3 wte. Employee Relations Casework Disciplinaries in the Care Group have reduced to 6 following the completion of 6 cases last month. 3 new grievances have been received this month, following a number of months with none at all. There are 3 capability cases in the Care Group, an increase of 1. There are 88 Managing Attendance cases, which is an increase of 12 on last month, reflecting the extra focus placed on fair and consistent management of staff with health problems. Personal Appraisal Development Reviews PADR compliance has decreased in the Care Group from 88% to 73%, however, using the 15 month rolling compliance figure, this increases to 85%. Training Training compliance in the Care Group has decreased from 79% to 73%. Sickness Sickness remains at a similar level to last month at 5.01% following a significant decrease the previous month from 6.4% to 5%. Management of absence figures have again increased this month, showing that the Care Group has a fair and consistent approach to the management of staff who are unwell Specialist Vacancies and Recruitment Vacancies being recruited to in the Care Group have decreased from 25.5 to 15.5 wte of which 4 are the Associate Practitioner posts referred to in last month s report. 6

7 Employee Relations Casework Disciplinaries in the Care Group have decreased from 4 to 2 this month, and the level of grievances remains the same at 1. There are no capability cases, which has been the case for the last 6 month. There are 36 managing attendance cases, an increase of 3 from last month. Personal Appraisal Development Reviews PADR compliance has increased this month from 86% to 88%, which increases significantly to 98% using the 15 month rolling compliance figure. Training Training compliance in the Care Group has also increased from 74% to 79%, which although is below the Trust target, is still good progress. Sickness Sickness in the Care Group has reduced slightly from 7.2% to 7%, which remains well above the Trust target. The HR Manager for the Care Group will increase the focus on supporting managers in the Care Group to fairly manage the attendance of staff and analyse the reasons for absence to identify if there are particular trends emerging which can be addressed and supported Corporate Support Services Vacancies and Recruitment Vacancies being recruited to in Corporate Support Services have increased from 20.7 to 24.7 wte, as a result of managers moving to fill vacancies following the Corporate restructure. However there remains 45.6 vacancies which are not currently being recruited to. A large proportion of these are likely to be filled following the completion of the restructure. Employee Relations Casework There are 2 live Disciplinaries across Corporate Support Services, which is the same as last month. Grievances have increased significantly from 4 to 9, which is a concern. Further work will be undertaken to understand the reasons for this increase. There remains 1 capability case and there has been a decrease in the number of Managing Attendance cases of 6 to 45, following the decrease of the sickness absence percentage. Personal Appraisal Development Reviews PADR compliance across Support Services has remained constant at 84% in April. However, this increases significantly to 93% when using the 15 month rolling compliance figure. 7

8 Training Training compliance has increased from 78% to 82%, which is good progress. Sickness Sickness has reduced from 4.5% to 4.3% across Support Services, which is below the Trust target. 4. Recruitment Following extensive discussions related to the Trust s financial position and the high use of bank and agency staffing, the application of the control target of 3 million for the coming year for agency usage, which is a reduction of 1.2 million on last year s spend and an increased focus on safe staffing levels, a decision was taken to push to recruit to many of the vacancies in the organisation. This led to a significant increase in the number of vacancies being processed through the recruitment team, and in March the figure stood at live recruitments. It is notable that by the end of April, this had reduced to 222.4, which means that over 24 posts were recruited to in that period. The previous average is around 80 to 100 live recruitments being processed. A collaborative approach between Operations and Human Resources to this increase in activity has been taken, with short term extra resource being funded in the team to help ensure that this does not lead to further delays. Over recent months, each HR Manager has met weekly with their counterpart in the recruitment team to review each vacancy in their aligned care group. For the past month, an update report is then submitted to the Deputy Director of HR and Diversity each Friday and shared with the Chief Operating Officer each Monday. This approach has led to a decrease in the blockages in the process, with each HR Manager addressing issues as they arise wherever possible. A Directorate decision was taken to cease all clearances for internal candidates, except where their new role has an increased risk, such as a move into direct patient care from a non-patient area. Where a DBS is required, such as when an internal candidate has not had an updated one in the previous 3 years, this is undertaken, but does not hold up the start date in the new role. It is estimated that this decision will significantly reduce the volumes of clearance activity as well as reduce waiting times for start dates for internal moves of staff, with very little risk for the Trust. The Directorate has accessed support from the Project Management Office to realise the benefits of both the extensive process mapping undertaken to streamline the recruitment process and, using the information technology expertise available, also realise the benefits of the IT system; NHS Jobs 2. This work will include the development of turnaround times for delivery of each element of the process attached to recruitment key performance indicators for all those with a part to play in speedy and effective recruitment. Further work is being undertaken as part of the development of the Workforce Strategy, and linked to Care Group transformation and workforce plans, to pull 8

9 together the Trust approach to the national recruitment difficulties, including the development of the current workforce, the retention of the aging workforce and the development of new roles, using the national report Workforce Reshaping referred to in section 2.1 of this report. The Workforce Strategy will be presented at the July Board. 5. Workforce Costs The report at appendix 2 shows that the planned spend for the year to date was 9,069, The actual spend was 9,434,990.00, showing an overspend to date of 365, Sickness Absence Rates and Occupational Health Referrals Sickness absence has increased slightly this month, but as this is by 0.01%, this is not statistically significant, although unusual at this time of year. Once again, the highest reason for absence, by far, is anxiety / stress / depression / other mental disorders. The work undertaken over the last month to provide regular real time data to line managers has been well received and, combined with the regular sickness absence clinics using HR and Occupational Health expertise to support managers and staff, has given further assurance of a consistent and fair approach to the management of attendance and led to an increase in managing attendance casework for the Directorate. What is of more concern is the continued increase in new Occupational Health referrals over the last 2 quarters: 199 in quarter 3 and 300 in quarter 4. Early indications on referral rates so far in quarter 1 are showing further increases, with 186 referrals being received in month 1. Although there is a slight increase in referrals for general medical issues, the majority of referrals are for stress related conditions. Further analysis is being undertaken to understand where these referrals are staff who have remained at work whilst unwell, and whether the they have reported their stress to be work or personal related. Given the staff survey key finding that 71% of staff had reported that they felt pressure in the previous 3 months to attend work when feeling unwell, this analysis will need to be triangulated with the staff survey results by Care Group. Further updates will be presented to the Board when this work has been undertaken. 7. Annual Staff Survey Following the previous presentation to the Board of the staff survey results, work has been undertaken to further analyse the results and develop an action plan with corporate objectives and detailed work tailored to each care group. This action plan being presented at today s board meeting. 8. Recommendations The Trust Board is asked to note the contents of the report and comment accordingly. 9

10 Author Miriam Heppell, Deputy Director of HR and Diversity 10