Healthy debate
HEALTH and Social Services is facing more scrutiny over its handling of recruitment and ward closures.
HEALTH and Social Services is facing more scrutiny over its handling of recruitment and ward closures.
Former board member Mike Hadley is pressing the department on the recruitment issue. And anyone who has watched the States in recent years will be well aware of his passion for health issues and his arguments over housing licences.
His recent rule-six questions highlight an issue that has dogged the department for some time, begging the question of what more HSSD can do to address it.
The department relies on bringing in staff from off the island, yet struggles to retain them for any length of time.
Just one staff member saw out the entire length of their housing licence last year.
'Talking to nurses, I don't think HSSD make any realistic attempt to retain the staff it has got,' said Deputy Hadley.
'The reality is, we lose experienced people off-island because HSSD doesn't apply for extensions to housing licences.'
The department says the figures suggest that the majority of off-island staff leave after about two years, irrespective of the length of term of the licence.
Given that it spends some £50,000 per post getting people over here, it is a merry-go-round in need of a brake.
The department's exit interviews revealed three major reasons for these staff leaving: the ending of the States rent allowance after two years, the cost of living in Guernsey and the transient nature of those who come on licence.
It pays a retention bonus of £1,000 for all staff who have been in place for 12 months, plus £3,000 when someone has stayed for two years.
Pay for nurses in Guernsey is a little more than 10% above the national base salary in the UK.
Deputy Hadley had asked if the department wanted pay increased to compete with London – but the department stated that any changes in pay structure were the remit of the Policy Council.
The next pay review for nurses is scheduled for 1 April.
'The department has various incentives to attract and retain qualified nurses, including retention payments after the second year of service,' it said.
'Any changes to this policy would need to be discussed with Policy Council during the 2013 pay negotiations.'
So it has a window of opportunity to act.
Some nurses will also point to the quality of the department's own accommodation, whether that is paying to live in the private sector or its own offerings.
The figures revealed in the answers to Deputy Hadley's rule-six questions also showed that the department recruited more nurses than left last year.
It later sought to put the numbers in perspective by saying it employed more than 1,000 nurses.
But there were 35 more nursing staff starting work last year than left.
In the past quarter, a time period under particular scrutiny because of the ongoing ward closures being blamed on staff shortages, there were 49 who started and 25 who left.
Deputy Hadley also highlighted an issue with recruitment advertising spending.
'The last quarter of the year was the one when it spent less money across recruitment, when one would have thought it would have spent more because of the impending crisis.'
At £30,116.67, it was just less than £13,000 short of what was spent in quarter three.
The department's efforts to attract staff have also been called into question, as just two posts are advertised on the healthjobsuk.com site.
HSSD said those related to multiple vacancies in both surgical and medical.
'Candidates who apply for these roles would be considered for any vacancies for which they were suitably qualified.'
A quick look at the site shows the department advertising for a staff nurse in the medical unit, and theatre practitioner – anaesthetic, with both posts attracting a salary of up to £30,251 a year.
Health says it currently has a shortfall of 11 full-time posts on the medical wards.
De Sausmarez ward has remained closed because of this.
'Some of the De Sausmarez Ward staff, those with appropriate nursing skills, are helping to meet this temporary staffing shortfall in order to keep both staff and patients cared for in a safe environment,' the spokesman said.
'The remaining De Sausmarez staff are supporting an additional six surgical contract beds, which HSSD are able to provide through both Giffard Ward and Victoria Wing.
'The De Sausmarez Ward staffing level of 20 full-time nurses provides 15 surgical contract beds, so the PEH is currently operating with only nine fewer contract beds than it would normally provide.
'Most levels of activity can be maintained with this number of beds, but it does reduce the flexibility for dealing with the management of different types of surgery, different genders of patients and providing spare capacity for emergency surgical cases.'
It is working closely with the Medical
Specialist Group to ensure that the mix of non-urgent patients being operated on during this period matches the availability of beds as closely as possible, the spokesman said.
The board thanked all its staff for their 'commitment and dedication during this challenging time.'
'The board apologises for the difficult situation that they are faced with and the disruption to their normal working arrangements.'
