Issue with NHSP

JCS1

Mr_Eyes wrote: »

And is it not loss of income that they cancelled all my booked shifts for the next 2 weeks without advising me of the reason? And if they no longer want to contract surely they should inform my agency why?

One of the points of using Agency staff, they can be cancelled at at short notice and no explanation is required.

General_Grant

Undervalued wrote: »

. . . the general principle for an employer in using an agency is that although they pay more per hour, they avoid the obligations and commitments of employing someone. . . .

I imagine you were also receiving a higher hourly rate than you would have done had you been employed directly by the hospital?

If so then you have in effect traded your employment "rights" for more money in the short term but with no security.

All you can do is carefully study the agreement you have with the agency and make sure they have honoured their side of the contract.

NHS employers using staff via an external agency (not their own Bank workers) may pay more per hour than they would pay for directly employed staff.

Agency workers of long standing (like the OP) would be entitled to the same basic rate of pay as if directly employed and give up on the pension contributions (which would have cost the around an extra 10% depending on annual salary level).

It seems to me the main reason why agency staff are out of favour in the NHS is not so much because of any associated additional direct labour cost but because they are supposed not to know the hospital as well. All very debatable given the regular bookings that can occur.

purple12

There are also penalties for trusts relating to agency spend so it might be they have followed other options like increasing access to apprenticeships/'grow your own' nurses etc - NHS Improvement are really cracking down on this. If you are interested to know if it's something broader, it might be useful to read the most recent Trust board papers to see if there's something generally about agency staff. It may be nothing to do with your work but other issues going on more generally about use of agency and cost.

I don't think they'll be much gained by complaining because your contract isn't with the trusts so they are not obliged to give reasons but it might not hurt to ask.

cmthephoenix

General_Grant wrote: »

It seems to me the main reason why agency staff are out of favour in the NHS is not so much because of any associated additional direct labour cost but because they are supposed not to know the hospital as well. All very debatable given the regular bookings that can occur.

In most Trusts there is a big drive to cut down agency spend because it costs so much more than directly employed staff.

nicechap

cmthephoenix wrote: »

In most Trusts there is a big drive to cut down agency spend because it costs so much more than directly employed staff.

That’s not quite true. Whilst there is a pressure from vested interest groups to reduce agency costs, and overpriced agency costs in particular, most like for like ( e.g. an ODP, staff nurse or Radiographer) cost less in the long run due to things like ongoing training costs, pension payments, and sick pay.

cmthephoenix

nicechap wrote: »

That’s not quite true. Whilst there is a pressure from vested interest groups to reduce agency costs, and overpriced agency costs in particular, most like for like ( e.g. an ODP, staff nurse or Radiographer) cost less in the long run due to things like ongoing training costs, pension payments, and sick pay.

Sorry, yes I should have qualified. There's a big push to try to use directly employed bank staff to fill shift vacancies rather than agency staff.