The REC chief executive gives the lowdown on changes within healthcare recruitment
The past few years have seen a complete abundance of changes within the NHS, with numerous challenges such as the introduction of clinically led commissioning as well as recent plans to amend procurement processes, which include cutting a massive £20 billion from the NHS goods and services bill. With new schemes and initiatives round every corner, The Recruitment and Employment Confederation chief executive Kevin Green explains how critical the recruitment sector in healthcare has become, providing a flexible and skilled workforce when it is needed the most. “Agencies provide a service 24 hours a day to ensure that hospitals can always get cover when required. At a time of critical staff shortages in the NHS, agency staff provide a vital service in ensuring safe staffing levels,” Mr Green explains.
Representing 3,349 corporate members who have branches across all regions of the UK, the REC is the professional body for the recruitment industry, with their Health and Social Care branch working with the NHS Employers National Agency and Temporary Staffing Strategic Forum, the Department of Health’s National Procurement Council and the Local Government Association’s Employer Standards Advisory Group. Providing a key lobbying voice for the world of recruitment, Mr Green has been heading up the REC since 2008, keen to engage in matters that affect any and all aspects of recruitment. “We continue to represent the industry on the National Procurement Council, and are feeding pack members’ concerns to the major procurement providers and NHS trusts,” he emphasises.
What campaigns are the REC involved in?
Although doctors have had an appraisal and revalidation process in place for a number of years now, the Nursing and Midwifery Council are now extending a similar procedure to their professionals, stating on their website “We aim to deliver a proportionate, risk-based and affordable system that will provide greater public confidence in the professionals regulated by the NMC. It is also important that revalidation raises standards of care and promotes a culture of continuous improvement amongst nurses and midwives.” Eager to ensure that this corresponds and works alongside the current structure in place for doctors, Mr Green says “As part of our work developing the talent pipeline, we are taking an active part in the NMC’s current consultation on Nursing Revalidation to ensure that it feasible for agency nurses to undertake. We are also closely monitoring Health Education England’s development of the Certificate of Fundamental Care.”
The REC also has it’s finger on the pulse of social care developments, as it is a member of the LGA’s Social Work Reform Board. Mr Green explains they are “currently developing implementation guides for recruitment agencies and their clients on how best to implement the new Standards for Employers of Social Workers in England for the benefit of agency social workers.” This includes areas such as a social work accountability framework; continuing professional development schemes; effective workforce planning and a safe workload / case allocation system. The forward thinking organisation is even brainstorming about the potential future impacts of regulations such as the Care Act. Mr Green says “With the implementation of the Care Act looming next year, we are looking at the impact of local authority commissioning on the sustainability of the supply chain and care standards within social care. For example, we are working with the CBI on the development of a Local Market Management toolkit for local authorities.”
[testimonial name=”Recruitment Influencer – Kevin Green” who=”CEO of the REC” imagelinks=”https://totalassist.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Kevin-Green-e1408361016127.jpg” vertical=”no”]”With a high drive focus on customer service and business support, Kevin Green has flourished as CEO of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation since 2008, winning prestigious leadership awards.”[/testimonial]
