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Lancashire Care ranked Top
Performer in recent sample around reducing agency spend
A recent sample of North West Trust's
ranked Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust as the top performer in reducing the
amount being spent on clinical agencies. The Temporary Staffing Department is a
large team with both clinical and admin workers registered who work in various
placements within their local areas. The team also provides bank workers to NHS
facilities outside of the Trust. The Trust was ranked the top performer for
reducing clinical agency spend by providing a temporary staffing service seven
days a week.
A number of years ago the Trust won the contract for community services in
Central and Pennine Lancashire. This contract almost doubled Trust's workforce
and put an increasing demand on the staff bank as the organisations transferring
over did not have viable staff banks and relied heavily on agency use, the
increase in workforce then resulted in a doubling on agency spend. To address
this The Temporary Staffing began a review of the service in order to identify
the changes needed to increase the bank fill rate and reduce agency usage.
As part of the review the department recruited extra staff to the team who
focused on advertising, interviewing, recruiting and providing a controlled
place for bookings. The service is provided seven days a week until 10pm which
eliminates the need for managers to contact external agencies. The department
has also improved bank work engagement by introducing drop in support sessions
and is due to launch a site for workers to access information. Any vacant shifts
at the Trust can now be notified to bank workers by text, email or can be
accessed online on smart phones and tablets.
This year the Trust has managed to reduce clinical agency spend to 17% since the
38% back in 2013.
Wendy Simpson, Temporary Staffing Manager at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation
Trust said:- "Prior to this piece of work, The Temporary Staffing Bank was
fragmented and new contract wins meant that our workforce increased, putting a
high demand on agency usage. In order to address the issue, the team worked
extremely hard to ensure that all functions were providing by 1 team, allowing
for greater control of advertising and central control of agency usage. This has
proved to be successful as demonstrated by the increase in the number of shifts
filled with bank workers and reduction in agency usage.
Being part of our Temporary Staffing Bank means that people can work flexibly
around their personal lives, it provides variety in the location of work and
means people are able to choose what shifts they want to work and when. Not only
do people gain NHS experience, but working on the bank can lead to jobs with
longer term contracts. Meaning when a permanent opportunity opens up, bank staff
are perfectly placed to fill the role. By providing a Temporary Staffing Bank we
are able to actively recruit people of all ages, background and levels of
experience. This supports us to understand the different needs of our patients
and enables us to provide the highest quality of care and treatment!"
The Team is actively building on the success to date and is now looking continue
this work and look at addressing the medical agency spend by increasing the size
of the medical staffing bank. The Trust also plans to look at collaborating with
neighbouring Trust's top streamline agency bookings.
For more information about the Temporary Staffing Department please
visit the Trist's
website.
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Dot-Art Schools announces its 6th
annual Inter-School Art Competition!
Dot-Art Schools is now welcoming
applications from Schools in the Liverpool City Region and Cheshire to showcase
the artistic skills of Year 5 and Year 9 students. Registration is open until
Christmas for mainstream and Special Educational Needs Schools to sign up for
the highly anticipated 2017 to 2018 Art Competition.
The annual competition entries can be of any theme and will be shortlisted by
noted arts professionals, culminating in a public exhibition with winners
selected by an online public vote. A prestigious award ceremony is hosted for
students and their families where the overall winners and runners up are chosen
by a special guest judge.
This year we can reveal that the exhibition, formerly held at St Georges Hall,
will be hosted by our project partner Liverpool John Moores University at the
Liverpool School of Art and Design. Dot-Art Schools project manager Carolyn Murray
explains:- "The competition is designed to celebrate the creative talents
of young people and develop the next generation of rising stars, so we are
delighted to hold the public exhibition showcasing the pupil's artwork to their
parents, family and the wider community in such an appropriate and inspiring
setting as the art School."
Dot-Art Services who manage the Schools' competition are delighted that world
famous hairbrush brand Tangle Teezer has once again agreed to be the principal
sponsor of the programme, Matt Lumb, CEO of Tangle Teezer commented:-
"With innovation, creativity and design at the very heart of Tangle Teezer, we
are proud supporters of Dot-Art Schools and the creativity they promote and
encourage."
Since its inception in 2012 the competition has thrived, with over 200 Schools
taking part to date and more than 4000 young artists. Dot-Art Schools is
committed to championing creative education in Schools and through its
Inter-School competition, gives young people confidence and pride in their
creative abilities, skills used across a vast number of career pathways.
Looking back to the competition's inaugural year the overall prize was awarded
to James Murphy from St Margaret's Church of England Academy. Years later James
is confidently forging a career in the arts, having curated his own exhibition
in Liverpool's Domino Gallery and is now in higher education studying creative
media. In 2012 James said:- "I have always had a love of art yet never
thought of following it through as a career until the Dot-Art Schools win. Since
then I took a huge interest in animation and have been in contact with several
designers and animators at Disney, Florida who admire my work and have helped me
develop in my aspirational career so far."
The overall winners for primary and secondary categories over the past 6 years
have showcased a broad range of artistic themes, reflecting the diverse work
Schools are doing in art and design. Past winning Schools have included St
Hilda's CE School, Christian Fellowship Middle School, Rainhill High School, St
Patricks Primary School, St Bede's Catholic Junior School, The Sutton Academy
and Knotty Ash Primary School.
As well as inviting Schools to sign up to the competition we are currently
seeking companies who believe in the importance of creative education to become
Dot-Art Schools Champions. Many Schools would love to take part in the Dot-Art
Schools programme, but budget cuts have made it a challenge, so for a small
contribution you could enable a School to take part in our programme.
Schools can sign up to the programme until 20 December 2017. Find out how by
visit:- Schools.Dot-Art.Com
or send them an email to:-
Schools@Dot-Art.Com or call:-
0345 017 6660.
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