Please note: The NHS Staff Council agreed the NHS Working Longer Group has fulfilled its purpose and has therefore formally ended the role of the group. The resources produced by the group will remain available for organisations to use. The NHS Staff Council and its sub groups will take forward any future work.
The Working Longer Group (WLG) submitted its preliminary findings and
recommendations report to the health departments for consideration on 3 March
2014, on behalf of the NHS Staff Council.
The report included the initial findings from the review and made 11
recommendations, which concentrated on four main themes:
The data challenge
Data proved to be one of the most significant challenges faced by the group. While it is substantial in its quality and availability, it is collected
by different organisations for very different reasons so it proved difficult
to track across different data sets and draw robust conclusions.
Pension options, retirement decision making and their impact on working
longer
Helping staff to enable them to make informed pension choices is a major
challenge. It is clear that further work needs to be done to help members
understand the pension scheme and the flexibilities available to them.
The importance of appropriate working arrangements and the work environment
There are many different work environments in the NHS, including different
organisational cultures, the way staff behave and are treated, the teams in
which they work and their experience of work. More work needs to be done on
breaking down barriers that prevent greater movement of staff across trusts and
geographical areas.
Good practice occupational health, safety and wellbeing
There are already existing reports, such as Boorman, which have made a number
of recommendations around staff wellbeing. It is vital that these
recommendations continue to be fully implemented and are taken forward in the
context of an ageing workforce.
The WLG has gathered a wealth of information and
evidence, however there remains a great deal further to consider. The final
recommendation of the report was therefore the continuation of the group to
drive the implementation of these forward.
The report and its annexes are available below. If you have any issues opening the documents below, right click on the link and select "Save link as".
Please note: The NHS Staff Council agreed the NHS Working Longer Group has fulfilled its purpose and has therefore formally ended the role of the group. The resources produced by the group will remain available for organisations to use. The NHS Staff Council and its sub groups will take forward any future work.