The Health and Social Care Act 2012 ushers in the most significant changes to the NHS since it began in 1948, including major implications for the workforce.
Key points of the transition
Supporting staff
Tools and resources
Key points of the transition
The main direct impact is on staff working for primary care trusts (PCTs) and in strategic health authorities (SHAs) and where there is system-wide change there will also be some redundancies.
DH published its HR transition framework in July 2011 which aims to ensure that processes are transparent and staff are treated fairly and equally, and are supported by effective and fair HR practice.
In November 2011, DH published the Public Health HR Concordat (also developed with the NHS Employer's organisation) which provides the principles and standards for managing the HR processes to support the transfer of PCT public health commissioning activity to local authorities. It sets out the obligations of the NHS and local government employers and trade unions in managing the change. Read the FAQs.
DH have also launched a People transition website to provide relevant information to assist the transition. The site has three core sections:
HR zone - a secure section for HR practitioners containing HR transition policies, guidance and templates and information about up and coming HR transition events. This area is accessed only with a password. HR transition leads should have been sent the password for them to cascade to local HR practitioners.
The process - a section providing people with access to the application process, useful documents, and FAQs.
Job search - a quick search facility by which people will be able to search for opportunities through a range of criteria - organisation, salary, business area and location. This will generate a list of potential jobs across the organisations.
For applications to new organisations please see the NHS jobs website.
Supporting staff
It is vital that, as good employers, NHS organisations continue to support staff through the transition, particularly those whose jobs are at risk.
The Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response Service can help employers in this role with comprehensive support packages and advice for staff, including re-training, work trials, identifying transferable skills and job searches.
The DH NHS HR Steering Group, which was set up to support the changes, produced a guide for employers on support services for staff. This covers areas to consider when sourcing outplacement services, with an early framework developed by NHS Yorkshire and Humber to help their organisations to support staff.
Tools and resources
Our tools and resources page brings together the relevant information to help trusts with issues such as staff transfer, service redesign, staff engagement, redundancy, resignation, talent management, and health, work and well-being. This will grow as new resources become available.
More information
For a system-wide viewpoint see the NHS Confederation’s NHS reform web section. There are also frequently asked questions to help members make sense of some of the key issues.
