Healthcare Recruitment Award
sponsored by Hays Recruitment
Improving patient access and choice depends on the quality and availability of staff in all areas of the hospital practice. This award will recognise the NHS organisation that has developed a robust recruitment policy that delivers both safety and continuity to patients.
2009 WINNER: Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust
Heart of England is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, employing 10,000 staff across four sites: Heartlands Hospital, Solihull Hospital, Good Hope Hospital and Birmingham Chest Clinic. The Trust has a turnover in excess of £265m, and is one of the top five employers in the area.
In 2007 it found low levels of satisfaction among managers responsible for hiring staff. A radical overhaul has seen a fifty per cent improvement, lowering the recruitment period to ten weeks.
The Trust created a resource support team, comprising existing managers, to oversee the pre-employment process, and each candidate is now given a named contact. Both managers and job applicants are said to be more satisfied with the process, and there has been a 58% reduction in job vacancies and less use of temporary carers, both of which have improved patient care and saved the trust £1.4 million in recruitment costs.
The Equality & Diversity Department have established a network - Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust Diversity Staff Network (HEFT), in which staff can become a member and share their experiences, knowledge and skills on a wide range of work related issues. Key topics include tackling racial harassment, equality, cultural diversity and grievance policies and procedures.
Heartlands Hospital plays host to a series of career days to help local youngsters gain a better understanding of real life healthcare and the opportunities available within it. Talks and presentations are delivered by professionals in catering, accountancy and computing to highlight the 350 plus different careers available in the NHS.
Nursing Times has recently featured Heart of England Foundation Trust as one of the ‘Top 10 Places to Work’, and it has also been recognised at the HR Excellence Awards in the Most Effective Recruitment and Retention category.
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