Staffing at the Hospital

WQ.432/2020

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 17th NOVEMBER 2020

Question

Will the Minister state –

1. the figures for August 2020 for staffing levels at the Hospital in an equivalent table to that provided in response to Written Question 375/2019 (showing the two sets of figures for comparative purposes);
2. the number of shifts filled by bank nurses in August 2019 and August 2020;
3. the number of the staff in post who were agency or locum appointments in August 2019 and in August 2020;
4. an estimate, for each staff group, of the additional annual cost, in percentage and in real terms, of using locum or agency workers over substantive employees of the Department;
5. the number of locum physiotherapy posts that have been removed since August 2019 and whether the reduction, if any, has affected the delivery of service in that Department;
6. to what extent the figures for vacancies in 2019 and 2020 reflect the implementation of a vacancy management factor to enable staffing expenditure to be reduced to meet efficiency savings or rebalanced targets; and
7. how he assesses the figures for locum / agency staff for August 2020 against the objective to appoint vacancies with substantive staff rather than continue reliance on agency and locum staff?

Answer

Will the Minister state –

1. the figures for August 2020 for staffing levels at the Hospital in an equivalent table to that provided in response to Written Question 375/2019 (showing the two sets of figures for comparative purposes);

2. the number of shifts filled by bank nurses in August 2019 and August 2020; The bank shifts filled in 2019 and 2020 were as follows:

3. the number of the staff in post who were agency or locum appointments in August 2019 and in August 2020;

The number of agency nurses and allied health professionals in post in August 2019 and 2020 were as follows:

4. an estimate, for each staff group, of the additional annual cost, in percentage and in real terms, of using locum or agency workers over substantive employees of the Department;

Locum and agency staff can attract premium expenditure above a permanent role budget. The Department operates rigorous governance and financial control in respect of the authorisation of agency and locum expenditure, with full consideration to ensuring staffing levels are enough to meet the needs of the service that it is providing.

The table below provides an estimated analysis by staff group of locum and other agency expenditure which has been incurred in comparison to substantive establishment budgets.

January 2019 to December 2019

January 2020 to October 2020

5. the number of locum physiotherapy posts that have been removed since August 2019 and whether the reduction, if any, has affected the delivery of service in that Department;

In general, locum physiotherapists are used to cover vacancies or long-term absences. Since August 2019, 4  locum  physiotherapists  have left the  physiotherapy  department  when  substantive  colleagues  were recruited or returned. Two locum colleagues remained with the service to support the Covid response. All physiotherapy services have remained operational.

6. to what extent the figures for vacancies in 2019 and 2020 reflect the implementation of a vacancy management factor to enable staffing expenditure to be reduced to meet efficiency savings or rebalanced targets;

The Department manages its budget robustly and through a variety of mechanisms. This clearly includes vacancy management because, as for all organisations, vacancies occur through natural turnover throughout every year. However, what the Department also does is to ensure that staffing levels are sufficient to meet the needs of the service that it is providing.

7. how he assesses the figures for locum / agency staff for August 2020 against the objective to appoint vacancies with substantive staff rather than continue reliance on agency and locum staff?

There has been an increase in the use of locum agency staff in response to Covid and also to support an expansion of the workforce whilst permanent recruitment continues to fill vacancies. This is a common approach across all healthcare providers as a way of dealing with the international shortage of qualified nurses and AHPs, but ensuring that the services provided have sufficient staffing levels. The on-Island training opportunities for nurses provide another recruitment route into some of these roles.