Forging strong partnerships with Government, trade unions and other stakeholders means we can promote employers' interest at the highest levels, addressing current workforce issues and helping to shape the future.
Social Partnership Forum
We represent employers' views on workforce issues on this national tri-partite forum, with the NHS trade unions and the Department of Health, influencing policy development in areas such as workforce planning and the national staff survey. Trusts are encouraged to follow the Social Partnership Forum (SPF) example to improve partnership working at a regional and local level. Visit the Social Partnership Forum's website for more details on its work programme. The website also provides advice and materials to support and encourage partnership working between employers and trade unions at all levels in the NHS and a range of case studies highlighting the benefits of partnership working. Visit the SPF website at www.socialpartnershipforum.org
NHS Staff Council
We support employer representatives and devolved administrations on this national body that has overall responsibility for the Agenda for Change pay system for NHS staff. Our work includes negotiating any changes to the pay structure with the NHS trade unions as well as providing a secretariat function for the council. Current projects include the review of ill health retirement and sickness absence, and injury benefit.
NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement
We work jointly with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement to support trusts with improving workforce productivity. Shared work programmes include providing advice for trusts on the most effective use of resources to improve services for patients and direct support for trusts in implementing workforce change.
Health and Safety Executive
We share knowledge and expertise with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on the healthy workplaces agenda, feeding this into our core work programme. This includes helping organisations to support staff in key areas such as bullying and harassment and work-related back problems. We run campaigns to tackle stress and bullying and provide ongoing guidance for trusts on health and safety issues through The healthy workplaces handbook.
NHS trade unions
We work closely with the individual NHS trade unions on workforce issues such as the independent sector programme, productivity and contracts for the medical workforce like the General Medical Services contract.
Representative forums
We actively engaging employers and other professional and stakeholder groups on a number of forums focusing on specific workforce areas, including the workforce productivity forum and the medical workforce forum, to influence national policy on key areas like Modernising Medical Careers.
Key regional contacts
At the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) level, our liaison managers represent employers' perspectives on regional workforce issues, working closely with SHA workforce directors. We also work with the regional HR networks, sharing knowledge and giving them an opportunity to feed into, and influence, the national workforce agenda.