Health and social care

Template email to NHS England on framework rates

Following conversations with framework providers and NHS England, REC has drafted this template email for members to send directly to NHS England setting out their concerns over the current procurement system. This template email can be passed into your email platform and highlights spaces for you to insert your own relevant information and examples of how the current price cap system for the NHS is negatively impacting your business. Whilst the REC has raised this directly with NHS England ourselves, hearing it directly from impacted businesses will help to amplify our messaging around this issue.

Download the template here

Updates on Agency Social Workers Rules

The Department for Education have emailed REC confirming their intention to publish the full statutory guidance on the new national agency rules, and the government’s response to the consultation regarding these, in July (subject to internal clearance). REC will continue to engage with the DfE to find out more about the timeline for implementation of these rules once published and will let members know of any updates. Once published these rules will apply to use of agency child and family social workers.

Ahead of this publication, the DfE has now published supplementary guidance on the data collection and price caps rules that will be included in the main rules. The guidance includes information on:

• the data being collected
• the supporting rationale
• the job mapping exercise
• data protection
• price caps

This additional guidance has been published now to allow businesses time to start preparing for these changes. Under this published guidance, the first data reports will need to be submitted in January/February 2025, covering data for the period between 1 October and 31 December 2024. The guidance also states that pay caps will need to be agreed by 27 March 2025, to be adhered to from 1 April.

If you have any questions around this, please contact me on Patrick.milnes@rec.uk.com

REC Response to Department for Education's consultation - 28.02.24

Today we have submitted our response to the Department for Education's consultation on Child and family social workers: agency rules statutory guidance. In our response, the REC has reiterated the concerns of our members around the practical implementation of these rules in their current form. We have met with the department several times to discuss this and have continued to urge them not to rush the introduction of the rules to ensure they can be implemented as smoothly as possible. We will continue to engage with DfE and will keep our members informed of the latest developments on this issue. You can read our full submission here.

Wes Streeting announces Labour plans for Health and Social Care – 11.10.23

During his speech at the Labour Conference, Shadow Health Minister Wes Streeting, announced his core plans for the health and social care sector under a future Labour government.

One key focus for Wes was the 7.7 million strong backlog the NHS currently has, which he planned to cut with a £1.1bn investment into additional clinics at weekends and evenings. This proposal will be funded by abolishing the non-dom tax status in the UK.

He also focused on the need for reform to the NHS, stating that simply investing into the system isn’t enough if the system itself is flawed. Labour’s plans for reform include a shift to community based healthcare, more focus on digital and technology and prevention of illness rather than treatment.

On social care there were the biggest announcements, with a collaboration with Angela Rayner’s team announced to deliver a social care workforce plan and a new deal for care workers. This will include a fair pay agreement for social care workers and is the first step on Labour's 10-year ambition to create a National Care Service. REC will continue to engage with Labour to make sure this plan accounts for and acknowledges the role of agency social care workers. 

Social Care Update - 22.09.23

The government this week has published the response to their consultations on Stable Homes, Built on Love and the National Framework. The documents give an indication of the progress the government has made regarding the social worker agency consultation that they issued earlier this year.

The government has reiterated their intention to publish their response to the agency social worker consultation “later in the year” and have also announced they will be consulting on statutory guidance for national rules on local authority use of agency child and family social workers, with the intention to introduce these rules from Spring 2024. The introduction of these rules will coincide with the launch of a national virtual hub, which will provide a one-stop-shop of support for local authorities to support their recruitment and retention strategies and comply with the new rules.

The government has also confirmed that the Children’s Social Care National Framework will be issued as guidance in December this year. This will be accompanied by a plan to support local authorities with this.

If you have any comments on these, please feel free to contact the REC on Patrick.milnes@rec.uk.com

REC gets in front of Labour's Wes Streeting (Shadow Secretary for Health & Social Care)  

On 18 September 2023, the REC attended an event by Wes Streeting, with the focus of discussion being on his priorities as an incoming Health Secretary should Labour win the next General Election. Our Campaigns Advisor, Usman Ali, got a question about Labour's stance on agencies, and it was promising to hear Wes saying that he doesn't blame agencies for the crisis facing the NHS.  

Off the back of this event, we have submitted a briefing to Wes' office, and have also requested a meeting with him to offer expertise from the recruitment industry and professionals operating within the healthcare space.  

You can access our briefing by clicking here.  

If you would like to feed in your perspective as a recruiter in health and social care, or if you have any questions, please email Usman.Ali@rec.uk.com or Patrick.Milnes@rec.uk.com

Social Care Update (25.08.23)

We have received an update from the Department for Education regarding the Child and family social worker workforce consultation that took place earlier this year. Because of the technical nature of the proposals considered in the consultation, the DfE have confirmed that the publication of the government response has been delayed and will not be published in September as planned. This is to allow time to fully consider the proposals. The DfE have confirmed their intention to publish their response later this year and they will continue to work on draft guidance to underpin these proposals as well. REC will remain in contact with the DfE on this and will keep members informed of any further developments regarding the government response to this consultation.

Update for REC Healthcare members (23.08.23)

Following conversations with members in the sector regarding framework price caps, the REC has started speaking to law firms with a view to instructing one to explore whether there are grounds for requesting variation of the framework agreements. Conversations between the REC and various firms are ongoing as we identify various grounds under which the frameworks may no longer be fit for purpose, and the merits and prospects of each of these.

Once we have identified a suitable firm to partner with on this and have a clearer understanding from the chosen law firm of the REC’s legal position against the frameworks on this issue, we will update members. In the meantime, if you have any questions or would like to discuss this further please us at Patrick.milnes@rec.uk.com

REC writes to Northern Ireland Trusts following Social Worker Agency Ban (1.08.2023)

In light of the Department of Health's decision to ban social worker assignments for agency workers, the REC has written to each of Northern Ireland's Health Trusts to remind them of their legal obligations to workers. This follows feedback we've received about some workers remaining on Trust contracts but not appearing on the Trust HR systems.   

This is deeply concerning as it puts these workers at risk and undermines their rights, leaving them potentially vulnerable should any challenge arise with their work or assignment. We have reminded Trusts to comply with Article 33 of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, which clearly states that an employer should issue employees and workers a statement of their employment's particulars.  

You can access a copy of the letter to Trusts here.  You can help us most by continuing to provide your evidence of staffing issues by emailing Patrick at Patrick.Milnes@rec.uk.com 

Update for REC Healthcare members (18.07.23)

It has only been a couple of weeks since the long-awaited NHS workforce plan was published (read our summary here) - but even in that short time, there have been developments! The REC has responded to the NHS workforce plan and to the ongoing developments in the sector on a number of fronts:

• As reported by The Times, we have called for proper Parliamentary scrutiny on the different supply models to the NHS and the costs.  We need to break the myth that agency is the most expensive option - even the NHS' own plan states how agency supply is costing them less than banks!

To help us with this - we need your case studies. If you have evidence of inflated rates or incentives to entice agency workers to other supply models, please share them with us. We can anonymise all information received.

• We have maintained this public profile across the media. For example, the HSJ published a commentary from the REC on 12 July entitled 'Agency staff keep the NHS on its feet and deserve the government's respect'. Our aim is always to demonstrate the high levels of expertise, insight, and compliance among REC members, showing that if DHSC just worked with us and used that insight, they could build a much stronger staffing platform for the NHS.

We have directly reached out to the government asking them for urgent consultation on:

• The viability and reasonableness of the current agency frameworks. It has been 8 long years since the caps were introduced. The pandemic has radically altered the staffing needs of the NHS, as well as the labour market more widely.  It is our view, underpinned by evidence from across the sector, that the frameworks that include the price caps are no longer fit for purpose. The price caps do not include other staffing models, most notably banks - something government promised to keep under review. They have also failed to review the caps and controls, including margins, despite uplifts in National Minimum Wage rates and statutory increases which skew the application of the wage caps. Good quality suppliers, large and small, are now compromised in their ability to meet the framework rates and uphold compliance standards.
• The application of the backlog bonus to NHS agency workers. We managed to get immediate clarification that their initial interpretation that the bonus would not apply to NHS agency staff, regardless of time in assignment. However, there is scope to argue that not including qualified agency workers could breach the AWR where they are still working in the same role with the Trust and contributed to clearing the backlog but it's still not clear the criteria being used to award the payments.
• Proposals coming from individual trusts to cut their use of all agency spend imminently. We want to understand how trusts can take this action, and particularly how they will provide safe staffing levels that cover contingency needs that are impossible to plan out in advance.
• The High Court has now ruled that the government’s decision to allow agency workers to replace striking workers (and repeal Reg 7 of the Conduct Regs) is unlawful. This means that from 10 August 2023, it will be unlawful for employment businesses to supply agency workers to clients to carry out the work of their own workers taking industrial action. Please review the advice to all REC members.

Given all this, we believe it is time to take further, more direct action. We are currently consulting on the legal routes available to the REC to tackle years of inaction. We do this with extremely heavy hearts - but NHS staffing is in a critical position. Patients suffer when staffing isn't right, and the workforce plan fails to get to the heart of the issue. It fails to mention critical support workers to the NHS - how can they improve patient care without thinking about the care industry - but also what about the administrators, porters, managers, and others that underpin the NHS. Even for the medical roles covered by the plan, there's no sense of where the several thousand students will come from - but we do know they don't want them all to come from abroad.

As we review our options, we will keep REC members informed. You can help us most by continuing to provide your evidence of staffing issues via policy@rec.uk.com.

The REC has been working hard to campaign against the proposed ‘ban’ on agency social workers in Northern Ireland. On 13 June 2023, the Business Services Organisation (BSO) announced an extension to the framework 556151 for agency workers which includes agency social workers. The framework was due to end on 30 June 2023 but it will now continue until 31 March 2024 under the same terms and conditions. Usually, the REC prefers a fresh tender rather than extending an existing framework which doesn’t refresh terms and conditions nor allow new agencies to bid. However, on this occasion, we cautiously hope this will prevent a ‘cliff edge’ of social worker supply from 30 June 2023.

The REC has been in touch with members in Northern Ireland for many months. And we understand there is still confusion as members continue to receive different messages from Trusts and the Department of Health. If you are affected by this, please get in touch with policy@rec.uk.com and share what you are hearing from your candidates and clients. The REC will continue to monitor the situation closely and continue reaching out to decision makers to get clarity on supply agency social workers between now and 31 March 2024. The REC has written to the Department of Health twice in the last few weeks and we will keep pushing for a clear response.

An update on social workers in Northern Ireland

Our campaign against the ‘ban’ on agency social workers proposed by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland continues to be a priority. As well as continuing to seek clarity from the Business Services Organisation, we have issued a statement, written to the Chief Social Worker and circulated a press release to local media. The story was covered by ITV Good Morning Northern Ireland and our quote has been mentioned by other trade press and stakeholders.

On 7 June, we issued a joint letter from the REC along with seven on-contract agencies who have been directly impacted by this. In the letter, we strongly urge the department to scrap the absurd proposals and instead start engaging with workers and service-users.

DfE’s proposals likely to push workers out of the profession entirely  

REC members operating in the social work sector will be aware of the Department for Education (DfE)’s proposals to curb agency spend. The consultation closed on 11 May. Firstly, a big thank you to all members who responded and those shared their views with the REC directly. We are particularly grateful to members who have actively encouraged their workers to participate in an REC-wide survey with agency social workers in children’s social care. We had a good response rate and the survey gave us useful data on temporary workers’ reasons for choosing this pattern of employment, as well as responses to each proposed change. Along with our formal response to the consultation, the REC shared a summary of the survey’s results with the DfE team. Notably, four in ten children’s social workers who work as temps through agencies have told us that they will leave the profession entirely if the proposals go ahead. For more information about this survey, you can read our press release.

The REC is aware of the messaging that members in Northern Ireland have been receiving from their workers and clients regarding "a ban" on agency social workers. This is an absurd measure and will only worsen the already acute shortage of social workers in Northern Ireland. Most importantly, it will put end-service users at risk. After seeking clarity from the Business Services Organisation for a number of months, on 25 May 2023, the REC has written to Aine Morrison, Chief Social Worker, Department of Health. We requested an urgent meeting, highlighted the value of agencies and agency workers and emphasised the importance of collaboration and market engagement for successful procurement. On 23 May 2023, we also published a statement on this situation, which you can view here.

The REC understands that some clinical staffing frameworks had issued communication suggesting the backlog bonus wouldn't apply to agency staff in the NHS. We immediately wrote to the Minister for Health and Secondary Care and quoted the Department’s own press release which highlighted the importance of 12-week equal treatment being observed and Regulation 6 (3) of AWR - "bonuses payable on the basis of individual performance over a given period." While we have had confirmation that Agenda for Change uplifts will be applicable to agency workers in post over 12 weeks, we are still waiting for clarification about eligibility for the ‘backlog’ bonus, as set out in our letter. We will continue to push for this and will, of course, keep members updated.

The REC is aware of an announcement from the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS) Cymru to regulate agencies and agency workers in social care by bringing forward the All Wales Pledge. The REC has seen the details of the proposals and is deeply concerned about the impact on our sector as well as the future social care workforce in Wales. We are especially concerned about the further staffing shortages this might cause as changes include the likes of capped rates, notice periods, and minimum experience to work with an agency, all of which is being done without consultation and on short notice. The REC has written to the President of the ADSS Cymru, sharing our feedback on the proposals and offering to use the sector’s expertise to help navigate the current workforce challenges in an effective and collaborative way. You can view the full letter here.

Following NHSE/I publishing price card for 2023-24, the REC provided a statement to the leading health trade press, Health Service Journal, expressing our members’ frustration and sector’s challenge. This statement was published on 25 April 2023. The article also featured NHS Professionals, who highlighted NHS Trusts’ difficulties in workforce management due to an inability to flex agency pay caps.

Kate Shoesmith, REC’s deputy chief executive, said:

“The vast majority of the money that is paid to an agency goes straight to the worker. So by not regularly reviewing and updating the agency price caps, the system isn’t grasping the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, the context of NHS staff shortages, or why people are choosing to work via an agency in the NHS in the first place.

“Good quality, compliant agencies working within NHS frameworks face constant pressure to remain viable – but are being pushed out. Commercial framework providers do their best to support the NHS, but they are being squeezed given high inflation levels. A lack of movement on pay caps may eventually shrink the framework market and thereby force NHS trusts to pay more for emergency staff and go ‘off framework’.

“Agency price caps were introduced nearly a decade ago. Since then, we haven’t seen any improvement in staffing availability – it’s just got worse. It’s got to be time for all the relevant bodies to work on this together.”

In April 2022, the REC wrote to DHSC ministers to urge the department for a fundamental review of the workforce procurement system. This followed the new rate cards and price caps, published by NHSE/I in March 2022. The (then) Health Minister Maria Caulfield MP responded to the REC with a letter dated 31 August 2022. The letter started by acknowledging “the invaluable efforts made by the framework agencies” during a challenging period.

She concluded the letter by recognising the importance of long-term workforce planning as well as a need for various industry stakeholders to work together towards a sustainable NHS workforce. Keeping this message from the former Health Minister in mind, the REC will write to the new Health Secretary and her team shortly. 

NHS England (NHSE) has announced Dr Navina Evans as Chief Workforce Officer, replacing Prerana Issa (former Chief People’s Officer at NHSE) under a new title.

Dr Evans’s role oversees a merged workforce and people directorate, looking after supply & demand of workers, education and training. She is currently CEO of Health Education England (HEE) with significant experience in healthcare and workforce planning. As HEE is set to merge with NHSE, Dr Evans will carry both roles in tandem until April 2023.

The REC has written to Dr Evans, introducing our members and requesting a meeting with a view to discuss collaboration with our industry.

Throughout April 2022, the REC took a wide range of actions in relation to NHSE/I’s price card for agency workers – reaching out to various teams at NHSE/I, the Health Secretary, the Health Minister as well as journalists. In recent weeks, we have also written to the Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, Jeremy Hunt MP,  you can view the letter here. We have urged the committee to listen to the voice of the REC and members during the ongoing inquiry into workforce in health and social care. The REC has raised a number of important points in relation to the workforce issues such as the need for a fundamental review into frameworks and price caps and equal treatment of temporary workers. We have further shared our messages with a large number of stakeholders including teams at No 10, the Cabinet Office, the Shadow health team and all MPs on the select committee.

As you’re aware, the REC wrote to the Health Secretary regrading equal treatment of agency workers and the confusion over the NI costs in the rate card. We have also shared a copy of this letter with journalists from trade press and saw one piece of coverage in Recruiter Magazine. The copy of the letter has also been shared with the Health Minister Edward Argar MP and Special Advisors to Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP. More recently, the REC has delivered similar messages to NHSE/I, writing to both CEO (Amanda Pritchard) and CFO (Julian Kelly), offering our views into the workforce strategy. View the full letter to NHSE/I here.  

On 27 April 2022, the REC’s Deputy CEO, Kate Shoesmith wrote to Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Health, urging the department to carry out a fundamental review of the workforce procurement system following the publication of the latest agency price card from NHSE/I. In addition to our ongoing and previous engagement with NHSE/I and framework operators, the REC has written to key stakeholders across the industry. View the letter to the Secretary of State for Health here. 

In March 2022, NHS England published new guidance to state the organisation’s policy objective to meet net zero carbon targets, formally adopting the UK government’s Social Value Model. From 1 April 2022, all NHS organisations commissioning goods and services must adopt the requirements of Procurement Policy Note (PPN 06/20). This means all suppliers of goods and services to NHS organisations will need demonstrate their net zero and social value approach during tender processes as an appropriate weighting for both will be added to the evaluation criteria.

To view the guidance from NHS England, please click here.

The REC wanted to make our healthcare members aware that we are actively talking to a range of healthcare stakeholders, from civil servants to governmental agencies in the sector in England and Wales. We will be discussing the way National Insurance (NI) increase and National Minimum Wage (NMW) increase might affect agencies as well as to urge for a fundamental review of frameworks and price caps with a view to develop a sustainable healthcare workforce system that protects patient safety and public money.

As you are aware, we have been updating our members on this hub regarding our engagement activities on the delayed price card for 2022/23 from NHSEI – reaching out to the temporary staffing team, CEO at NHSEI, DHSC team and the Health Minister Edward Argar MP. Despite having urged them consistently since the pay increase for NHS staff was announced in July 2021, NHSEI only published the new rate card yesterday (29 March 2022). And the new publication seems to indicate that agencies are responsible to cover the NI increase. Our concern is that this doesn’t only create operational challenges for agencies due to the short notice, but also we are aware of agencies’ concern on having to ‘absorb’ these additional costs when agencies can’t simply afford to. The REC will be reaching out to stakeholders such as No 10 business team and the Cabinet Office and our activities will be updated on this hub as usual.

In Wales, we are aware agencies have been communicated that there will be no changes to all Wales contracts and rates from April 2022, again creating a serious issue with agencies’ responsibility over the NI increase in Wales as well. We are looking at this as a number one priority and plan to firmly urge the procurement team to review this.

We are aware of REC healthcare members’ concern and frustration on the delayed publication of updated price cards for NHS agency workers in England. And the REC has been seeking an update and clarification for many months since the pay increase was announced. The latest information as of 22 March is that NHSE/I has now finalised the new rate and updated price cards are due to be published shortly. Our members will hear from framework operators soon. On another note, the REC has reached out to the Health Minister this week on the same topic. You can view our letter to the minister for health here, which seeks the reason behind the significant delay in updating the rate and urges for an overall, fundamental review into price caps and frameworks.

Last month, the REC met with Andy Brittain, Director General for Finance at DHSC and discussed a range of industry topics. The REC had a chance to further highlight the value of the agency workforce and flag key issues for members such as worker shortages, price caps and frameworks. The REC also followed up with Andy with a comprehensive briefing pack explaining the scale, the impact and the influence of the REC healthcare members and offering the wide range of industry market intelligence that the REC is keen to share. The briefing pack will be shared with senior members of different teams and departments across DHSC with a view to start a conversation between the department and the medical recruitment industry.

DHSC and DWP have launched a national campaign Made with Care to help recruitment businesses attract the right candidates into social care. The sector-focused campaign aims to raise the profile of the adult social care sector as a rewarding and stimulating industry to work and to support the existing recruitment efforts being delivered by employers and agencies. The government has produced a range of campaigns and communications materials for businesses to distribute, from email templates to leaflets and social media copies. The REC members operating across the sector are encourage to visit the campaign website as well as to download the campaign toolkit.  

The REC has been raising the awareness of the worker shortages in the care sector through the Labour and Skills Shortages campaign. In recent months, the government announced a number of measures to address the issue such as adding care occupations to the Shortage Occupation List, a £500m funding towards training and supporting social care workforce as well as this national, ongoing campaign.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has confirmed that regulations making Covid-19 vaccines a condition of deployment in health and social care will be revoked from 15 March. The announcement came after a public consultation from February where 90% of responses supported the removal of the legal requirement for healthcare staff to be fully vaccinated.

Under previous measures, care home staff working at CQC-registered organisations had to be fully vaccinated in order to hold a patient-facing role in England. All frontline NHS England staff were also due to be required to do this from April – this has now been reversed.

For more information, please read the official press release.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) continues to urge all adult social care staff to receive a booster, as vaccination remains the best line of defence against Covid-19. While the take-up of booster shots among agency staff has increased, there are still less than one in five are recorded as having received their third dose. All care home staff including agency staff are also eligible for priority queuing by presenting this letter and proof of employment. The department urges those involved in the sector to encourage colleagues to come forward for their booster vaccinations through this letter.

The Deputy Minister for Social Services Julie Morgan MS has announced that social care workers in Wales are set to receive a £1,000 payment, in a bid to recognise the value of the sector’s workforce as well as to ease the pressure from the recruitment crisis. The payment will be made to registered care homes and home care workers and is expected to extend to around 53,000 care workers. However, it is not yet clear which occupations are covered under the scheme or whether it will extend to temporary workers. The REC is seeking clarity on the details of the scheme and will work to ensure there is parity for all involved in the sector.  Please click here to view our thoughts on the announcement.

Following a statement delivered by the Health Secretary last month, DHSC has published the details of the consulation on removing mandatory vaccines as a condition of deployment for healthcare staff. The government is seeking views on revoking the provisions by encouraging businesses and members of the public to participate in a survey. The consultation is open until 11:45pm on 16 February and the details on the consultation can be found here.

Ahead of our meeting with Andy Brittain, the Director General of Finance at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on Wednesday, we have shared some insights about  the current state of the UK’s healthcare system, based on a series of conversations we’ve had with healthcare members from across the industry.The main issues raised include staff shortages, unsustainable levels of mismatch between supply and demand of labour, and staff burnout. If you want to share any of your experiences, please get in touch via Yerin.seo@rec.uk.com. You can view the letter to Andy Brittain here.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that measures to mandate Covid-19 vaccines for health and social care staff are set to be revoked, subject to consultation results and parliamentary approval.

Since November 2021, all care home workers in England have been required to be fully vaccinated. The regulations were set to be extended to all frontline NHS England staff from April 2022. However, amid the growing fear of staff shortages and warnings from a range of sector stakeholders, the government has announced a ‘U-turn’ on the policy.

For more information, please view the government’s press release.  A direct link to the consultation page will be added here once it has been published.

The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England have confirmed Richard Meddings as new Chair of NHS England. With a robust background in banking and financial services, Meddings has previously served on HM Treasury’s Board and as Chair of TSB Bank. Coming into the role at a critical time, Meddings will focus on the NHS’s recovery from the pandemic and expanding its workforce. The REC has written to Mr Meddings, congratulating him on his new role and requesting a meeting where we can share our expertise and insights into NHS workforce planning. Click here to view our letter.

The Department of Health and Social Care has published a series of guidance documents as frontline workers carrying out CQC-regulated social care activities will need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 from 1 April 2022. For the information aimed at service providers and people employed to provide CQC-regulated social care activities in settings other than care homes, please read the guidance - Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination as a condition of deployment for the delivery of CQC-regulated activities in wider adult social care settings. For the overview of the guidance for care homes and care home workers, please read the guidance - Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination of people working or deployed in care homes: operational guidance.

The REC and Business Services Organisation (BSO) – who is responsible for Health and Social Care’s procurement – met for the first time on 13 January 2022 where we discussed a range of topics from the importance of agency staff, the upcoming framework and how the REC and BSO can work together in future. This was an opportunity to share sector intelligence with BSO’s procurement team and get clarification on future plans regarding market engagement and upcoming frameworks.

The REC and BSO agreed to meet regularly going forward.

In light of severe staff shortages, the Home Office has announced temporary changes to visa requirements for those in the social care sector. These changes should enable more international workers to be recruited into the UK’s social care sector.

Occupations within the sector are set to be added to the Shortage Occupation List from early 2022, allowing care workers, care assistants and care home workers to be eligible for the Health and Care Worker Visa.

The temporary measures will be in place for a 12-month period, making it easier for social care employers to fill gaps in the workforce.

Read the governmental press release for more information.

Building on our recent campaign activity, the REC has drafted a template letter for members based in Northern Ireland to use to contact their MLA about the SRP for agency workers. Members and individual workers can write to their MLA, as constituents, urging them to work with the Department of Health and Health Minister to bring parity for the agency workforce in Northern Ireland. For more information about the Covid-19 Special Recognition Payment and other REC activities, please see the previous updates below.

You can find out who your local MLA is.

On 14 December, MPs voted in favour of vaccination as a condition of deployment for all patient-facing workers in England. The vote passed with a 285-majority. This means that all frontline NHS staff will have to have two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine in order to maintain their roles unless they are medically exempt.

Conscious of the potential for further staff shortages that trade bodies, including the REC have raised, the government has introduced a 12-week grace period –  as they did for care home workers. The Department aims to begin enforcing the requirement from 1 April 2022.

Following a letter from the REC to NHS England and Improvement (NHSEI) dated 25 November, we have now received a response which you can view here. The REC is currently drafting a follow up letter to the Department of Health and Social Care in order to raise and discuss the price caps for agency workers further.

On 10 December, Health Secretary Sajid Javid MP announced a package of new support measures, making £300m available to protect and support social care workers during the ongoing pandemic. Along with the £162.5m fund announced a few months ago, the funding will go towards the recruitment and retention of care sector staff in the form of bonuses, pay rises and overtime payment.

By introducing this measure, the department is hoping to reduce pressure on the NHS ahead of a difficult winter.

Changes to Covid-19 testing regime were also announced. Care staff previously had to take two lateral flow tests per week, however they are now required to take three lateral flow tests, along with one PCR test each week.

For more information, please see the government press release.

The REC has today written to Northern Ireland Health Minister, Robin Swann MLA regarding the Covid-19 Special Recognition Payments (SRP) for agency workers in Northern Ireland. A copy of the letter has been shared with Health and Social Care (HSC) and the Business Services Organisation (BSO). Medical recruitment agencies in Northern Ireland recently received instruction from HSC regarding SRP for agency staff, however eligibility terms and conditions actually prevent the majority of agency staff qualifying for the bonus. In the letter, the REC has urged DH to extend the scope of the SRP to include all critical workers, substantive and agency. Given the significant administrative burden, we have also asked for an extension to submit claims beyond 31 December 2021. Lastly, we have asked DH to conduct the necessary eligibility checks before any worker receives payment from any party, putting the onus on the Department and not on agencies.  The REC is meeting with HSC in January 2022.

The REC has issued a statement regarding Covid-19 Special Recognition Payment for agency workers in Northern Ireland. In the statement, the REC urges Health and Social Care (HSC) to bring forward parity for agency and substantive workers, all of whom showed unreserved dedication for their patients throughout the pandemic. HSC previously has announced the one-off bonus for frontline medical staff, as a sign of recognition and gratitude for their contribution throughout the pandemic but while most substantive staff have received this payment, recent instruction from HSC prevent the majority of agency staff from qualifying for the bonus. The REC is working closely with the members in Northern Ireland and a further letter will be issued to HSC shortly. A meeting between the REC and HSC has also been scheduled in January.

Ahead of the implementation of the Social Care Levy, last week, Care Minister, Gillian Keegan MP made a statement on social care and presented a White Paper outlining the government’s 10-year-vision for the sector. The paper and statement have three core aspects; housing, technology and workforce. Workforce receives the highest level of funding with £500m towards development, progression and qualification. The government’s objective is to create a workforce that is well-trained, healthy, supported, sustainable, and recognised.

 Read the government’s white paper for more information. The section about workforce starts at page 65.

We would like to provide the latest on the delayed publication of the updated price cards 2021-2022 for the NHS agency workforce. We updated our members a couple of weeks ago, via the sector hub page, that the REC had been in touch with NHSEI multiple times in the last few months to address the delay on the new price cards reflecting the NHS pay increase. Based on recent conversations, the REC now understands that the publication is further delayed.

 As such, the REC has once again written to NHSEI, expressing our concern about the delay and the negative impact it will have on recruitment businesses. We’ve also sought clarification on the rationale behind the delay, the timing of publication, and the scope of the pay rate review. The REC is working to bring forward the fair and equal treatment of agency workforce ensure there is transparent and meaningful engagement between NHSEI and the medical recruitment sector. The letter sent to Amanda Pritchard, CEO, NHSEI can be found here.

The Health Secretary has announced major reforms to England’s healthcare regime by merging Health Education England (HEE), NHSX and NHS Digital into NHS England and Improvement (NHSE/I). By combining the education body of the NHS with NHSE/I, the department hopes to bring together financial planning, workforce planning and workforce development into a single organisation where a simplified and integrated national strategy for the NHS is viable. The merger will also bring forward strategic changes to education and training to allow employers to recruit the right level and volume of health professionals and skills at the right places with a view to increase patients benefits.

While NHSX and NHS Digital have already delivered innovative solutions to the healthcare sector, with a single central unit combined with NHSE/I, the government hopes to speed up delivering digital transformation across health and care for the years to come while contributing to tackling the patient backlog and recovering services following the pandemic.

For more information, you can read the department’s press release.

The REC has written to Northern Ireland’s Health Minister to raise concerns about the forth extension to the agency workforce framework in Northern Ireland. There are two main concerns regarding this extension; firstly, there is limited opportunity to discuss the price caps, and secondly agencies that are currently not on framework have been unable to access it. The REC used the opportunity to urge the Department of Health and Business Services Organisation (BSO) to offer better market engagement and supplier communications. You can read our letter here.

The REC is aware of a story in the Guardian newspaper regarding the cost of agency workers in the midst of staff shortages in the health and social care sectors. The REC has responded to both the journalist and the National Care Association setting out our members’ position. The REC has long called for a comprehensive workforce review for the health and care sectors to address ongoing skills shortages, particularly as inflated wages are a short-term approach to the crisis. Please click here to view our full statement.

On 9 November, the Health Secretary announced that Covid-19 vaccinations will be a condition of deployment for all frontline NHS staff in England starting 1 April 2022 following the consultation on the measures over Autumn. While he understands that there are pressures on the workforce and industry’s concerns around labour shortages, the government, NHS England and other advisors have concluded that vaccines are the most effective forms of protection against Covid-19. Subject to parliamentary vote, the new legislation will be applied to those who have face-to-face interaction with patients unless they are medically exempt.

Last month, the REC delivered a letter to Sajid Javid, outlining the views of our healthcare members on compulsory Covid-19 vaccines based on a poll we carried out during the sector webinar on 12 October. During the poll, 75% of the respondents thought vaccines should be required for NHS staff. However, a majority of the participants were concerned that mandatory vaccines could exacerbate medical workforce shortages. Recognising the risk of staff leaving the sector and listening to the industry, a grace period until April next year has been introduced and Sajid Javid said the department and NHS England will use the time between now and then to vaccinate more frontline workers as well as to carry out workforce planning.

The announcement comes as mandatory covid-19 vaccines for care workers are set to come into effect on 11 November in England. There are no similar proposals from devolved nations.

On 3 November, the Department of Health and Social Care published guidance on Workforce Recruitment and Retention Fund for adult social care announcing £162m funding to support local authorities and social care providers maintain safe staffing levels over the winter period and to grow and retain sufficient workforce capacity level across services.

Local authorities are encouraged to boost staff wages and launch various local recruitment initiatives with the funding. While the main purpose of the funding is to support local authorities address workforce capacity issues, the department also urges councils to work closely with their partner organisations to discuss ways that the sectors can work together to attract new staff while retaining the existing workforce.

The guidance is part of wider policy paper on Adult social care: COVID-19 winter plan 2021 to 2022 which outlines elements of national support for adult social care and workforce planning. The announcement applies to England only.

The REC is aware that NHS England is yet to publish the updated price card for 2021-2022 for NHS agency workforce to reflect the 3% pay increase that was announced for NHS staff a couple of months ago. The REC has been in touch with NHSEI multiple times in the last few months to flag this and understand the reason behind the delay.

 The REC has been advised that, while there has been a delay, “NHSEI is reviewing and processing to update the price caps as a priority and a decision and final approval are expected ‘sometime in the new year’”.  NHSEI would like to inform all agencies that “there are no changes to the price caps and they should continue to apply the current caps until further notice.”  The reason given for the delay is a rigorous review process being applied.

 The REC is continuing our engagement with NHSEI, we will keep pushing for a more exact timeframe of publication and any updates from NHSEI will be published on this sector page. If you would like to share your feedback on how this delay is affecting your businesses, please get in touch.

On 27 October, Chancellor Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP delivered the Budget which focused on a strong economic recovery, public finance and employment support. With rising inflation, a climate emergency, and energy shortages, the announcement’s main goals are to support people with the cost of living and help government achieve its ambition of levelling up.

For businesses, Sunak announced a range of support measures from a 50% business rate cut for certain industries and cancelling next year’s increase in the business rates multiplier. You can also take a look at the REC’s budget roundup and wider analysis.

For the healthcare sector, clearing the NHS backlog continues to be an immediate priority alongside putting the adult social care funding mechanism in place through the so-called social care levy announced earlier this year. Other key points include:

• The government has provided the largest real-terms health budget since 2010, totalling £177.4bn by 2024-25
• ‘Hundreds of millions of pounds’ of additional funding towards to build “a bigger, better trained NHS workforce.”
• Commitment to recruit 50,000 more nurses
• Social care levy will go towards tackling the elective backlog and adult social care
• £4.2bn into building 40 new hospitals by 2030 and upgrading over 70 hospitals

On the points regarding the workforce, the REC will work to ensure that the government puts the diverse nature of the workforce at the heart of its agenda, incorporating temporary and flexible workers. To read the full Budget document, please view Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021.

The DHSC consultation on compulsory Covid-19 and flu vaccines for all health and social care workers closed on 22 October. Ahead of the consultation closing, the REC wrote to the Health Secretary, outlining the views of our healthcare members on the proposed measures based on a poll we carried out during the sector webinar earlier this month.

 During the survey, 75% of participants said that they think mandatory vaccines should be required for NHS staff. However, the majority of our members were concerned that there would be a negative impact on the medical workforce, further labour shortages and a lack of clear guidance from the government on how employers should verify the vaccination status and medical exemption. You can view the letter to the Department of Health and Social Care  and the recording of the healthcare webinar. 

The Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England and Improvement (NHSE&I) have published ‘Our plan for improving access for patients and supporting general practice’, setting out the measures around how the funding will be spent to increase patient accessibility while exploring balanced hybrid access models.

 While the decision makers of the usage of the fund are the local health systems, the fund is designed to deliver two main aspects 1) improved access to urgent, same day primary care by increasing capacity and GP appointment numbers achieved at practice or PCN level, or in combination and 2) increased resilience of the NHS urgent care system during winter, by expanding same day urgent care capacity, through other services in any primary and community settings.

The document published last week also highlights that NHSE&I is working to increase the number of GPs to 6,000 – in line with the Government’s manifesto commitment. Additionally, NHSE&I is required to achieve a target of 15,500 new primary care professionals by March 2022 which will provide additional support GPs.

 Key messages from the Winter Access Fund have been set out below:

• Additional capacity funding for system for more prompt access to appointment
• Expanding numbers of GPs and other primary care professionals
• Moving to cloud-based practice telephony to increase the capacity for digital communications channels
• Making best use of community pharmacy to alleviate pressure on GP appointments and harness the skills of community pharmacists
• Practice-level review of levels of face-to-face care to review the right balance for patients between remote and face-to-face consultations
• A system to evaluate patient satisfaction to be rolled out as early as April 2022

For more information, please read the official document.