To ensure organisations are able to safely employ workers during this unprecedented time, we have enhanced our Total Workforce Solutions Framework to fit with social distancing measures, introducing features such as tele-consultation and surge staffing in addition to developing non-clinical solutions with our supplier community.
Enhancing Access to Non-Clinical Staffing including Cleaning Services
Since the NHS England and NHS Improvement’s (NHSE&I) announcement to temporarily relax the agency rules around sourcing non-clinical agency staff, HealthTrust Europe has seen an increased demand in staff supply services for logistics, facilitates/estates, security and hotel services including cleaning under Lot 4 of the Total Workforce Solutions (TWS) Framework.
Coronavirus has had a significant impact on staffing capacity across the health and care sector, and there has been a particular demand for agency staff to fill positions across the Social Care Sector and to fill other essential worker roles such as delivery drivers and warehouse packagers.
Given the inability to recruit staff using traditional methods, HealthTrust Europe has worked with NHSE&I to amend compliance requirements to respond to social distancing and lockdown measures and ensure that essential worker positions can be filled during this time. We have extensively engaged our supplier community to create a range of options for temporary, fixed term and permanent recruitment to meet our customers’ individual needs across non-clinical staffing. We are pleased to have set up a rapid response option to customers wishing to raise urgent requirements via workforce@htepg.com to support with sourcing the right resource.
Introducing Tele-Consultation under Total Workforce Solutions
A further innovation under the framework is the introduction of Tele-Consultations across the agency lots for remote/video access to healthcare professionals. With social distancing measures still being enforced across the UK and a wide range of healthcare professionals self-isolating, HealthTrust Europe recognised the need to allow recruitment to take place remotely using secure hosted technology platforms. Using such technology has allowed organisations to access staff such as Consultant Doctors and Advanced Nurse Practitioners remotely, using video conferencing technologies to support virtual wards and to offer virtual consultations and elective sessional work to be undertaken within the constraints of the lockdown. The Tele-Consultation option compliments existing recruitment pathways, ensuring high calibre applicants are sourced whilst maximising quality, safety, service and price through the framework terms and conditions.
By using such technology, both staff and patients are able to maintain social distancing, greatly reducing the risk of infection for both parties and allowing providers to begin to plan the return of elective care and managing waiting lists pro-actively. Our supplier community is working hard to support providers to implement, adapt and train on the new platforms to ensure all staff are able to use the remote technologies effectively.
Accessing a wider supply chain through Surge Staffing Options
Finally, the introduction of ‘Surge Staffing’ and ‘Rapid Response’ initiatives has provided a further new option under Total Workforce Solutions. Working with our supplier community, we are introducing faster, lighter touch access to technology solutions that enable rapid expansion of access to on and off framework suppliers to meet bank demand, agency requirements and to support cost controls. The solutions offer an efficient and effective mechanism to ramp up supply capability quickly in one or multiple staff groups, aligned to framework standard, that can be implemented for short, medium or long-term requirements to support with the provision of patient care during the Coronavirus outbreak or in planning the return of elective care.
HealthTrust Europe continues to work with our provider partners and supplier community to ensure our agreements meet and exceed demands during this unprecedented time. The new features of the Total Workforce Solutions Framework are available for access immediately, on a free to access basis across the United Kingdom.
If you need guidance, advice and/or solutions to meet your workforce needs, start a conversation by contacting us on workforce@htepg.com. Our dedicated customer team is on-hand to deal with any customer queries regarding staffing and recruitment. We are committed to doing everything that we can to support our partners with solutions to deliver the right resource, at the right time, for the right cost.
