Workforce and Orgnisational Development Report
Author: Ruth Davies, Director of Workforce and Organisational Development
Date:12 October 2012 / Version: 1
Publication/ Distribution (on completion):
- Public Health Wales Executive Team
- Public Health Wales Board
- Public Health Wales Intranet
- Public Health Wales Internet
Purpose and Summary of Document:
The purpose of the paper is to provide the Executive Team members with an overview of the Public Health Wales workforce and an update on key workforce and OD issues.
Date of Board Meeting: 25 October 2012
This paper is for:
Discussion
Decision
Information / X
Date: 15 October 2012 / Version: 1 / Page: 1 of 6
Public Health Wales / Workforce and OD Report- Board Meeting
- Workforce Analysis
The key messages from an analysis of workforce metrics for the current year to date are as follows:
1.1Staff in Post:
As at 21 September 2012, Public Health Wales has 1284 directly employed staff, which equates to 1110.32Full Time Equivalents (Contracted). This figure has remained fairly static over the first half of the financial year.
1.2Turnover:
The staff turnover rate for the past year is 8.15% which is within an acceptable range.
1.3Sickness Absence:
The sickness absence rate for the period September 2011 to August 2012 is 3.29%, a slight decrease from the comparable period last year which had an annual rate of 3.36%. The organisation remains on target to achieve the sickness target set by the Welsh Government of 3.25%.
The latest statistics on sickness absence in the NHS produced by the Welsh Government were released in August and show that within Wales, Public Health Wales NHS Trust had the lowest rate of sickness absence for the quarter ending March 2012.
2.Current and Future Workforce Issues
2.1Partnership Forum
The Partnership Forum met on 17 September 2012. Fiona Fisher, HR Project Manager presented a paper entitled “Employee Relations and the Partnership Forum”. This set out the findings from the recent review of employee relations and partnership working within Public Health Wales and proposed a series of recommendations derived from stakeholders’ view on the current process.
All recommendations were accepted with the exception of one, which the trade union side wished to have further time to consider.
A joint task group is now being established to implement the agreed recommendations.
Following agreement at the Policy Sub-Group, four further policies were signed off at the Partnership Forum, namely:
- NHS Number Compliance Policy;
- Procedure for Handling Requests for Information;
- Policy for Managing Allegations of Abuse Against Staff;
- Ionising Radiation Safety Policy.
Members of the Policy Sub-Group continue to work effectively in partnership, with good progress being made in addressing the backlog of policies.
2.2Joint Medical and Dental Negotiating Group
The Group continue to discuss issues in relation to medical and dental staffing, including policy development and revalidation. Next meeting is 24 October 2012.
2.3Workforce Pressures
A number of strategic workforce modernisation initiatives are continuing, which are being supported by the HR Team including:
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening
To date the posts of Administrator and Regional Co-ordinators have been advertised and appointments made, with the successful candidates taking up post in November. The screener roles have been advertised and interviews are taking place in mid November. Work is continuing in relation to the content of the training package and the identification of clinical placements.
Modernising Scientific Careers
Future meetings, to include HR representation and local managers, will be arranged to address local implementation over the next 12 months. A key question will be around our future workforce requirements and the educational commissioning and development plans.
Administration Review
The majority of staff within the scope of the review have now slotted into posts, including all staff within the North Wales work stream and those eligible in South East and Mid and West Wales. The implementation of North Wales work stream has now been completed. The nextstage is that the residual (new) posts will be advertised for open competition.
Public Health Development Directorate
Work is ongoing in relation to the proposal for restructuring within the Public Health Development Directorate. A process is underway to align consultants to their future roles. HR and OD support is being provided to this work.
Work is also ongoing in relation to Digital Mammography, and nearing completion for Reconfiguration of Laboratory Services for Cytology and Bowel. Reviews are still in progress within the Microbiology Laboratory Service(North Wales, South West Wales and the South East Wales Microbiology Modernisation project).
2.4Workforce and OD Function Development
The HR team are progressing the review of their structure to add maximum value to the work of Public Health Wales and to ensure best use of limited resources within the HR team.
The first two of six stakeholder events across Wales has been delivered by Ruth Davies, Peta Beynon and Claire Barley. These have been designed to encourage staff and managers to engage in a conversation around the type of HR and learning and development services and processes our staff would like within Public Health Wales and to discuss how to make Public Health Wales a great place to work. The first events were extremely positive and productive with a number of common themes emerging during the morning and afternoon sessions. It is also anticipated that there will be a follow up process incorporating technology to ensure as many people as possible are able to participate in the dialogue. The stakeholder events will continue across Wales and on completion in late November, an evaluation of outcomes will be undertaken and actions identified.
Recruitment, Payroll and Pension services are provided by the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership. Members of the Public Health Wales HR and Finance teams continue to meet with representatives of the shared services organisation on a bimonthly basis in order to discuss levels of service and to develop a set of Key Performance Indicators. There are growing concerns over the quality of recruitment services and an additional meeting has been requested to address these fully.
2.5Implementation of Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and Oracle Learning Management (OLM) in Public Health Wales
A group comprising HR, OD and training colleagues has been established to take forward the roll out of the system to the remainder of the organisation. An extended pilot for the roll out is underway, involving approximately 220 additional staff from North Wales Public Health team, Cardiff labs and parts of Screening. Staff from the HR and POD teams are providing full support, training (a programme of introductory sessions/ presentations and/or e learning module), manual, frequently asked questions, key contacts and other information to facilitate a smooth roll out.
There are significant resource constraints which will affect further roll out of self service as considerable work will be required on the part of the HR team in building organisational hierarchies and providing administrative support to the ESR system.
2.6Equality and Diversity
Fiona Fisher, HR Project Manager, has started work on reviewing the Strategic Equality Plan and will make recommendations for updating the Plan and re-establishing a Strategic Equality Group to oversee delivery. A report on progress will be provided to the Executive Team and the Board.
2.7Changes to Disclosure and Barring
UK wide changes in disclosure and barring procedures came into force on 10 September 2012. A Task and Finish Group has been set up to review the changes made to Disclosure and Barring and how they impact on Public Health Wales and to agree a process for managers to follow to assess if a position requires a CRB check and which level of CRB check is appropriate. The group will then oversee an audit of the post holders that are in those positions that require a CRB check to ensure they have a relevant satisfactory check in place.
- Workforce and Development
3.1Statutory Training
The drive to increase compliance rates across the organisation for statutory training is resulting in an upward trend. However, the increase is slow despite more training events being offered locally. Many sessions are cancelled due to lack of delegates which needs to be reviewed and monitored.
A number of manual handling trainers have now been trained and a programme of appropriate opportunities will be available in the next few months.
3.2Internal Learning and Development
A tender process for appraisal training has been undertaken and a programme of appraiser and appraisal training will be rolled out across the organisation November 2012-March 2013.
Public Health Wales has received funding in the form of educational credits with AGORED Cymru for staff in bands 1-4. These will be used in the first instance to provide training and development to those affected by the Administrative Review.
Public Health Practitioners
Public Health Wales is supporting 13 practitioners to develop their portfolios demonstrating competence.
The Head of Professional and Organisational Development has been invited back to Northern Ireland (12 October 2012) to help them consider and plan developing a similar scheme.
The Head of Professional and Organisational Development has been invited by the UK Public Health Register to support a working group considering and developing a process of “Provisional” Registration. This work has recently commenced and more information will be available shortly.
Advanced Practitioner
The Professional and Organisational Development team will be developing and leading a pilot of a professional accreditation scheme for advance public health practice on behalf of the other pilots schemes across the UK. Working in partnership with the UK Public Health Register and the Royal Society of Public Health, it is hoped that a process leading to Chartered status for advanced practitioners can be developed.
Defined Specialists
A programme of support for individuals wishing to be considered for defined registration has attracted four individuals. The candidates include a member of staff from the ambulance Service, two senior health improvement staff and an additional individual from screening (nurse by profession).
Brief Intervention / Every Contact Counts Workshop
A workshop day is planned for late November with key partners across Wales to gather intelligence and resources to review and support the making every contact count approach and supporting brief intervention training.
Foundation / Introductory Level to Public Health
Scoping work is planned to revisit and update the business case to develop an introductory level course for public health.
Date: 15 October 2012 / Version: 1 / Page: 1 of 6