The national terms and conditions of service for NHS medical and dental staff make provision for special leave to be granted at the discretion of the employer.
The Department for International Development (DFID) is leading on the deployment of staff. Current deployments are in place through medical relief organisations such as Merlin and we would encourage employers to discuss these opportunities as they are requested.
The DH and NHS Employers also recognise that there may be a need for NHS staff to be deployed for longer than the usual seven to ten day period.
International agencies have told DH that while they still need the support of NHS staff (especially surgical) it is becoming increasingly important for staff to be deployed for longer periods of time.
The reasons for this are:
- It takes nearly a week to get staff into Haiti
- Free flights will likely stop soon and therefore the costs of rapid staff turnover will become unacceptable
- Project continuity for both the agencies concerned but also for the Haitian Ministry of Health staff. Rapid staff turnover adds to an already very difficult coordination and management situation.
We would encourage employers to look at any extended requests compassionately, bearing in mind the current circumstances.
For the latest information on the NHS response to the Haiti earthquake, go to the DH website.