Agenda item

The report addresses issues raised by the Members on this item at the last committee meeting on 27 March 2012.

Yvonne Leese (Ealing Hospital NHS Trust) introduced this item and advised that there was a shortage of health visitors both locally and nationally.  The Trust was developing a recruitment and retention strategy and some progress was already being made in recruiting health visitors.

Jacinth Jeffers (Community Services Brent, Ealing NHS Trust) then presented the report and advised that a task and finish group had been created in June 2011 to progress the Department of Health paper, ‘health visitor implementation plan – a call to action.’  She referred to the table in the report outlining the vacant health visitor posts over the last two years, which had averaged twelve vacancies consistently despite a recruitment drive.  Jacinth Jeffers advised that the most recent external recruitment exercise had shortlisted six applicants and resulted in five of these accepting job offers.  Community Services Brent had also offered health visitor posts to internal students subject to them qualifying in September 2012.  However, the committee heard that it was not compulsory for students to remain with the Trust once they had qualified, so it was important that students were well supported and encouraged to take up posts in Brent.  In total, ten health visitor posts were due to be filled in September 2012.  However, it was forecast that a further 43 additional health visitors would be required by 2015.

During discussion, Councillor Harrison enquired whether the Trust was limited to the number of students it could recruit each year.  Councillor Hunter asked whether the Trust was confident that it could recruit the number of health visitors required in 2015 and what incentives were in place to encourage recruitment and retention of staff.  Councillor Leaman commented that recruitment of health visitors had been a long standing problem and he asked whether exit interviews were conducted for those leaving and what were the specific problems in Brent.  He also enquired what impact under capacity was having on staff and was it affecting morale. Councillor Daly asked how many health visitors were currently in post and what was the intended total number to recruit for this year and whether the ethnic mix of the staff reflected Brent’s population.  She also asked if there was a gap in service in view that vacancies remained.  Councillor Al-Ebadi sought clarification as to whether back staff had the appropriate qualifications.

The Chair asked whether there were sufficient financial resources to cover the forecast recruitment required in the next few years and was there any kind of guarantee that the students would remain with the Trust once they had qualified.  She also asked if there were an adequate number of practice teachers to train students.

In reply to the issues raised, Jacinth Jeffers advised that funds had been committed this year for the recruitment required, however funding was agreed on an annual basis with the NHS and the Trust had been funded to take on five students this year.  The Trust was currently considering what incentives it could introduce to encourage recruitment and retention of staff, including analysing what motivated them, such as offering new streams that they could specialise in.  Jacinth Jeffers advised that exit interviews of departing staff was undertaken and the reasons why they were leaving varied, including retirement, however sometimes staff simply wished to reduce the hours they were doing.  Members heard that there were currently 29 health visitors in post and some vacancies were covered by back staff who were appropriately qualified.  There was funding to recruit an additional 16 staff in total this year.  The staff ethnic mix was fairly diverse and the Trust was working with NHS London to target first generations of particular ethnic groups, such as Somalians.  Jacinth Jeffers acknowledged that under staffing was an issue and that its effects on staff was being closely monitored, including engaging staff through effective communication, including through staff forums and it was important that staff were aware of the Trust’s future plans.  Although there was a sufficient number of practice teachers, it was always desirable to have more and the addition of two more in September would mean that there would be five teachers in total.

Yvonne Leese added that there were separate funding channels to recruit the additional qualified health visitors and to take on students in September.  As there was no present requirement for students to remain with their respective Trust after qualifying, it was important that they were given a good work experience and support to encourage them to remain.  There had been vacancies at the Trust for the last four years despite funding being available to recruit for these posts.  Yvonne Leese advised that there was a London-wide shortage of qualified and experienced health visitors.  The long term solution involved supporting new students and attracting as many maternity placement nurses as possible, including those presently out of service.  However, the Trust did benefit from a low turnover with a committed group of health visitors and the main problem was in recruiting new staff as opposed to retention.  The committee heard that six vacancies were currently covered by back staff, with a further six remaining unfilled.  The Trust also had to prioritise particular areas, such as new births, those that involved vulnerable children or in need and those on the protection register, which meant that not as much resources could be focused on health promotion than would otherwise be desirable.

The Chair asked that the committee be provided with an update on recruitment and retention figures and training in around six months.