Patient care increasingly at risk unless NHS changes the way it provides services

As the annual NHS Confederation conference and exhibition gets underway, chief executive Mike Farrar warns that the NHS must win public backing for long-term radical changes to healthcare services or the care of patients will be put at risk. As the leading supplier of health and social care workers to the public sector, HCL Workforce Solutions is attending the conference and exhibition, showcasing HCL Clarity

HCL Clarity, a managed service for modern staffing solutions, demonstrates HCL’s commitment to supporting the NHS at this time of austerity and financial turbulence.

At the event, Mr. Farrar will publish the results of a major survey of NHS leaders highlighting growing fears about the impact of financial pressures on the quality of care.

Storm clouds gathering

In a statement published ahead of the conference, Mr. Farrar said: “Despite huge efforts to maintain standards of patient care in the current financial year, healthcare leaders are deeply concerned about the storm clouds that are gathering around the NHS,”

“Our survey shows that many NHS leaders see finances getting worse and that this is already having a growing impact on their patients. In response, they are cutting costs in the short-term but they know that much more radical solutions are the only answer in the long run.”

Survey findings

Headline findings from the NHS Confederation's member survey of chief executives and chairs show:

• Healthcare chiefs believe the financial position the NHS is facing is very serious
• The pressure on the NHS is greater than 12 months ago and is set to increase further
• Many NHS leaders say care in their organisation has been affected, particularly the experience of patients, and they expect to see the impact on care spread over the next year
• There is serious concern about the outlook for patient care nationally
• Cuts to local authority funding have added to the pressure facing the NHS
• Confidence varies in the readiness of parts of the new NHS system
• There is strong consensus that radical long-term action for the NHS is necessary
• Healthcare leaders want the Government to back them in addressing long-term challenges facing the NHS

See the survey findings in full.

Read a summary.

Annual conference and exhibition

The NHS Confederation annual conference and exhibition (22 to 22 June) will be the first time the NHS has come together nationally since the passing of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Watch the main speakers live. Key speakers include:

• Health secretary Andrew Lansley
• NHS chief executive David Nicholson
• Health Select Committee chair Stephen Dorrell

Ends.

For any further information, contact HCL Communications and PR Manager Laura Ackland on +44 (0) 207 451 1448.

About HCL plc

HCL plc, headquartered in London, was formed in 2003 and is a leading provider of staffing solutions in the health and social care sectors. HCL supplies over 2,000 temporary and permanent doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, qualified social workers and administration & clerical staff to public and private sectors every week. We are an international company with offices in UK and Australia and recruitment drives in Europe. For more information please visit our website at www.hclplc.com, view our facebook page or follow us on Twitter @HCLplc.

HCL secures key framework position

London, UK, 29 May 2012 - HCL Workforce Solutions’ Nursing division has been awarded a place on the Healthtrust Europe (HTE) Framework for agency nursing and care services north region, completing a competitive tendering process that began back in October.

HCL Nursing Managing Director Helen Rudanec says the placing, which follows the award of the south region (excluding London) in November and the central region in September 2011, is a key factor in ensuring HCL continues to provide the best workforce solutions to clients and recruitment opportunities for nursing vacancy candidates.

“HCL Nursing is now an approved on-contract recruitment agency specialising in providing large volumes of temporary nurses to NHS Trusts and the private sector. Nursing jobs are always in demand and we successfully support over 100 clients across the country, filling over 2000 shifts every week,” Ms Rudanec said.

In addition to the HTE Framework, HCL Nursing is part of the London Procurement Programme (LPP) and Government Procurement Service (GPS).

“For HCL Nursing, being present on the GPS, HTE and LPP Frameworks means we can service clients on a nationwide basis regardless of whether they choose to stay with GPS or move to HTE, and this means our candidates have the opportunity to work with a range of the UK’s most prestigious hospitals and Trusts.”

LPP has become the favoured framework for agency nursing in London since its launch in May last year.

“LPP helps deliver the highest quality service while ensuring value for money. We are aware of other regional procurement hubs running their own competitive tendering processes for agency nurses and HCL Nursing intends to submit responses to these to ensure we have all the options available to supply to our market.”

HCL Nursing is composed of the prestigious brands Montagu, Orion, Temp-Aid and Medical Technical and is one of the UK’s leading nursing job and healthcare recruitment agencies, registering an average of 100 professionals each month.

“We have combined the experience and strong reputations of these brands in the UK nursing market to offer the best skills, resources and expertise to both our clients and candidates.”

For any further information, contact HCL Communications and PR Manager Laura Ackland on +44 (0) 207 451 1448.

About HCL plc

HCL plc, headquartered in London, was formed in 2003 and is the UK’s leading provider of staffing solutions in the health and social care sectors within our chosen markets. HCL supply over 2,000 temporary and permanent Doctors, allied health professionals, qualified social workers and administration & clerical staff to public and private sectors. We are an international company with offices in UK and Australia and recruitment drives in Europe and our company has approximately 340 employees in the UK (excluding affiliates) and serves over 800 Trusts and hospitals. Our six divisions comprise of HCL Healthcare, HCL Medical Technical, HCL Nursing, HCL Permanent, HCL Fairstaff and HCL Social Care.
Our Australian office, Healthcare Australia, employs thousands of healthcare professionals that service hundreds of healthcare facilities in every state and territory across Australia.

Please visit our websites at:

www.healthcarelocums.com or www.healthcareaustralia.com.au 

For UK updates or job information, follow us on Twitter: @HCLplc

For Australian updates or job information, follow us on Twitter: @HealthcareAus

Customer service levels remain strong at HCL Workforce Solutions

London, UK, 24 May 2012 - HCL Workforce Solutions’ consultants are recording record scores on their Customer Quality Assurance Feedback Reports this quarter, according to HCL’s latest internal research, compiled as part of their commitment to quality management certification.

HCL Head of Compliance Jackie Knowles says the satisfaction scores, which topped 93%, are indicative of the organisation’s hard-line focus on standards, transparency and the high calibre of staff.

“Over the last six months, HCL has been going through a reengineering process, with compliance and security sitting at the top of our agenda. Internally, we are driving quality management systems in the business to ensure that our policies and procedures sit at the heart of our business. We take these processes very seriously and we pride ourselves on our levels of customer service.”

Job candidates from HCL Healthcare, HCL Fairstaff and HCL Permanent are given the opportunity to comment about their experience with HCL on their booking forms, with many providing qualitative feedback on their dedicated health and social care recruitment consultants.

“These testimonials are invaluable to us as an organisation and we will tirelessly continue to invest in our staff, provide the best opportunities to our candidates and supply the highest quality service to our clients,” Ms Knowles said.

HCL consultants scored 91 per cent in Customer Quality Assurance Feedback Q1.
 

For any further information, contact HCL Communications and PR Manager Laura Ackland on +44 (0) 207 451 1448.

About HCL plc

HCL plc, headquartered in London, was formed in 2003 and is the UK’s leading provider of staffing solutions in the health and social care sectors within our chosen markets. HCL supply over 2,000 temporary and permanent Doctors, allied health professionals, qualified social workers and administration & clerical staff to public and private sectors. We are an international company with offices in UK and Australia and recruitment drives in Europe and our company has approximately 340 employees in the UK (excluding affiliates) and serves over 800 Trusts and hospitals. Our six divisions comprise of HCL Healthcare, HCL Medical Technical, HCL Nursing, HCL Permanent, HCL Fairstaff and HCL Social Care.

Our Australian office, Healthcare Australia, employs thousands of healthcare professionals that service hundreds of healthcare facilities in every state and territory across Australia.

Please visit our websites at:

www.healthcarelocums.com or www.healthcareaustralia.com.au

HCL snaps up Yorkshire Trust win

The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has awarded leading locum doctor provider HCL Thames Medics the contract to be their tier one sole supplier of staff.

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals, an acute hospital Trust, primarily serves the communities of Wakefield District and North Kirklees, which makes up more than half a million people.

HCL Thames Medics Managing Director, Liz Fendyke, negotiated the deal which looks set to demonstrate HCL’s recognition of the financial constraints under which the NHS are currently operating.

“We are thrilled to have secured this contract at the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals, and we see it as in excellent opportunity to showcase HCL’s capacity as a volume supplier to the NHS,” Ms Fendyke said.
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals currently serves over 550 people per day in their emergency departments.

“Our commitment to reducing the agency spend of our clients will ensure we continue to offer the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust low-cost volume solutions, compliance assurance and an impeccable service.”
HCL, as a preferred Government Procurement Service (GPS) framework-approved agency to a large number of Trusts and procurement hubs, currently holds exclusive contracts at national, regional and Trust level at some of the most prestigious hospitals across the UK.

For further press information please contact: Sarah Evans - The Scott Partnership, 1 Whiteside, Station Road, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, CW4 8AA, United Kingdom. Tel: + 44 1477 539 539 Fax: +44 1477 539 540. E-mail healthcarelocums@scottpr.com.

About HCL plc
HCL plc, headquartered in London, was formed in 2003 and is a leading provider of staffing solutions in the health and social care sectors within our chosen markets. HCL supply over 2,000 temporary and permanent Doctors, Allied Health Professionals (AHP), qualified social workers and administration & clerical staff to public and private sectors. We are an international company with offices in UK and Australia and recruitment drives in Europe. Please visit our website at www.healthcarelocums.com
For UK updates or job information, follow us on Twitter: @HCLplc
For Australian updates or job information, follow us on Twitter: @HealthcareAus