Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

NHSLatest NewsEconomics, government & businessSickness absence managementJob creation and losses

NHS Plus announces shake-up to reduce ‘inneficient care’

by Personnel Today 25 Nov 2010
by Personnel Today 25 Nov 2010

NHS Plus is to undergo a major reconfiguration that is likely to lead to a reduction in the number of posts and the wholesale merging of some services and units.

A report, The Future Configuration of NHS Occupational Health Services, commissioned by NHS Plus and carried out by OH nurse and regional health, work and wellbeing champion Helen Kirk, said the fragmented structure of NHS Plus in England is unsustainable in this economic climate.

The set-up is also a recipe for “ineffective, inefficient, poor-quality care that does not build confidence in colleagues, patients and stakeholders”, it added.

The report recommended the creation of larger, geographically based departments servicing a number of NHS employers.

The shake-up follows warnings by NHS Plus chief executive Dr Kit Harling last month that OH services would not be immune to the more austere financial climate expected in the NHS over the next few years (OH News, November).

Harling told Occupational Health he could not rule out job losses as a result of the reconfiguration. It was more likely that roles and responsibilities would change.

He said: “There will be posts that will be lost. I think it is inevitable. I can see three or four departments, maybe, deciding to come together and creating two in their place.

“We need things to be reconfigured and we need to be taking some costs out of the system. But I stress that is not the same as saying that we need to be, or should be, cutting services.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“It will be more about people saying we have to change what we do on a day-to-day basis and the way we work rather than being out of a job,” he added.

The key conclusions were:



  • OH provision for NHS staff is highly fragmented and inefficient, especially in England. In the north- west, for example, there are 31 separate providers, compared with just a few providers in Scotland and Wales, which is preparing to introduce a single service for the whole country.
  • This fragmentation is so extensive there are many examples of multiple services in close proximity (especially in major urban areas) and many examples of trusts on the same site but supported by different providers. In some cases, NHS staff on one site where there is an OH unit receive OH support from a different location.
  • For junior doctors and healthcare students, services are usually hosted by a single provider that may be a considerable distance from their workplace and who may have limited expertise in dealing with their complexities of healthcare exposures.
  • This fragmentation is compounded by persistent difficulties with diverse IT systems and the sharing of patient information between providers as staff move from one trust to another.
  • A large volume of OH service activity is invested in preparing staff for work at the start of employment (such as screening and immunisation) and also in supporting sickness absence management.
  • Many tasks are straightforward, requiring either no or limited specialist expertise, while some are complex and require specialist OH skills. Yet the skills mix of OH teams does not always reflect this and there could be greater use made of OH technicians.
  • Larger, geographically based departments are needed that provide services to a number of NHS employers. These services should be large enough to ensure the full range of expertise is available and that tasks are undertaken by those who are competent to perform them.

Personnel Today

previous post
UK companies more at risk of missing talent opportunities
next post
Earliest snowfall in 17 years causing travel chaos for workers

You may also like

Company director wins £15k after being told to...

4 Jul 2025

Skills shortfall in construction threatens housing target

4 Jul 2025

MPs demand Home Office tightens visas to protect...

4 Jul 2025

It’s all about the Monet: how art transforms...

3 Jul 2025

Stop chasing quick fixes: return to the office...

3 Jul 2025

Asda hails major upgrade in employees’ benefits

3 Jul 2025

100% success for latest large-scale four-day week trial

3 Jul 2025

NHS 10-year Health Plan sets out vision for...

3 Jul 2025

Microsoft to cut 9,000 jobs globally as role...

3 Jul 2025

Decline in workplace deaths: falls from height remain...

3 Jul 2025

  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+