Zarah ChoudharyThe Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) has emphasised the importance of boosting collaboration to address the workforce crisis in healthcare.
In its submission to the Big Conversation, APSCo called for partnerships between NHS employers and other stakeholders to deliver the long-term workforce plan in a timely manner.
This should include collaboration with those crucial to supplying the non-clinical staff needed to drive digital transformation in the NHS.
The trade body also highlighted the need to reform hiring practices, focusing on temporary staff reforms to reduce ‘off-framework’ placements without eliminating agency worker access altogether.
Improving compliance and standards was another key recommendation, with APSCo urging officials to mandate that NHS employer standards align with Government requirements and ensure consistency across providers and frameworks.
APSCo proposed the development of a Digital Work Passport to hold key credentials for workers, simplifying the hiring process.
The association also called for the utilisation of a blended workforce, recognising the value of flexibility and stressing the need to ensure attractive pay rates and good working conditions for all.
To address costs, APSCo urged the NHS and Government departments to conduct independent research to understand the true cost of compliant framework recruitment.
It also stressed the importance of mandating social value in supply chains, arguing that contractual risk should be shared and statutory costs, such as employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs), fairly distributed.
APSCo noted that small to medium (SME) recruitment companies on-framework are often expected to absorb these costs within their commercial margins.
The association supported rolling out the Growth and Skills Levy, designed around modular, universally transferable training and qualifications accessible to both permanent and temporary or agency workers.
Additionally, it advocated creating flexible visas for skilled workers, proposing a short-term visa route for highly skilled foreign professionals critical to the running of the NHS and the provision of unique services.
Shazia Imtiaz, general counsel at APSCo, said: “The plans to modernise technology usage in the NHS are certainly a step in the right direction for an organisation that is essentially on its knees.
“However, the biggest issue that needs addressing urgently is the employment crisis.
“There’s a range of barriers that are preventing some of the immediate solutions from being rolled out, including a lack of standardisation in compliance and regulation across frameworks, as well as limitations on agency or international worker usage.
“We are urging the Government to consider how it can make recruitment fairer, safer and faster for clinical and non-clinical role in the NHS, without overburdening both the existing workforce and the staffing businesses that are so critical to the healthcare sector.”
