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NHS Recruitment Process: Everything HR Need To Know

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Anyone who has ever been involved in the NHS recruitment process knows that it's a very thorough, but perhaps not always the quickest of journeys, especially in the context of a national emergency. More than ever, the UK healthcare industry is faced with a shortage of clinical staff and in the face of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, this shortage is worsening every day.

In addition to acute current pressures, healthcare organisations must also juggle the competing priorities of lowering costs, improving patient safety and, importantly, maintaining regulatory compliance with (healthcare regulator) the CQC.

Of course, there are important reasons why the NHS recruitment and selection process is so thorough; it’s intended to improve patient safety by ensuring that all staff are properly qualified, whilst at the same time maintaining all-important regulatory compliance. 

But for HR departments within the NHS, and for third-party agencies looking to provide the NHS with nurses, doctors, ancillary or social care staff and fulfil graduate recruitment schemes, the nhs jobs application process can present a real challenge. Particularly when faced with the urgent need for staff resulting from the current Covid-19 pandemic. Even NHS bank and digital recruitment - or recruiting for much-needed volunteers - are long-winded and bureaucratic processes.

Aside from the in-depth and time-consuming process of shortlisting for NHS jobs, the NHS recruitment and selection process - which involves HR, management, and often a dedicated panel of clinical and executive personnel - requires:

  • Pre-employment checks to verify that an individual meets basic job requirements
  • Occupational health checks
  • DBS/CRB checks
  • Confirmation of an applicant’s employment history and references
  • Right to work /ID checks
  • Confirmation of registrations with professional bodies
  • Qualification checks

You can find out more about automating these processes by booking a demo.

The majority of responsibilities when recruiting new NHS staff fall to HR professionals, whose responsibilities also include:

  • Approval of advertisements
  • Reviewing applications and managers’ shortlists
  • Inviting applicants to interview and confirming attendance
  • Compilation and distribution of interview packs
  • Production of offer letters, request for references and pre-appointment documentation and
  • Creation of employee’s personnel files upon successful appointment

How long does the NHS recruitment process take?

So what does all this mean to recruiters and HR professionals, and how long does the NHS recruitment process really take? Well, it can mean that candidates wait several weeks - sometimes longer - to hear back from an interview, and the recruitment of a single new staff member within the NHS could take as long as 6 months…

"Hiring healthcare workers manually can take providers up to 6 months, and is a real bottleneck to providers attempting to expand and meet clinical demand" (Credentially CEO and A&E Clinician, Dr Kit Latham).

As a result of ongoing pressures in the sector, and of course the current Covid-19 pandemic, staffing levels within the NHS are set to reach crisis point. With NHS bank levels also depleted and the ongoing need for qualified nurses, doctors and care staff showing no signs of abating, something has to be done - and quickly - to expedite the recruitment process and enable HR to make reliable, appropriate appointments fast.

Ways to make the NHS recruitment process faster

So, how can recruiters:

  • Speed up the NHS recruitment process
  • Ensure patient safety by recruiting only the best, qualified staff
  • Complete all relevant checks and procedures on prospective candidates and
  • Meet the legislative requirements as laid down by the CQC?

That’s where we come in. Credentially’s healthcare on-boarding software will save you literally thousands of hours of valuable clinical time. 

Ways to speed up the NHS shortlisting process

If you’re an NHS recruiter, HR professional in the healthcare sector or a third party provider, now is absolutely the time to introduce an automated signup, credentialing, and compliance service. Credentially offers a bespoke package, tailored to meet your specific needs. With our software you can:

  • Automate verification of documents and professional registrations
  • Track and train staff
  • Automate evidence and 
  • Ensure regulatory compliance. 

Our software is designed specifically for healthcare employment and unlike any other package, integrates closely with key NHS credentialing databases. Credentially uses a combination of features across hiring, onboarding and compliance, to take the stress out of healthcare recruitment. Credentially will plug the gaps in your system and optimise your efficiencies for growth and savings, by automating the NHS professionals recruitment process.

Furthermore, our software improves patient safety: our automated failsafes will immediately flag up locums that have been struck off or are under investigation, which would go undetected with manual systems.

Find out more about how Credentially can help you to get staff without delays, evidence without error and growth without exploding costs, here. Our no-obligation demo lasts just ten minutes, during which time we’ll walk you through our system so you can see for yourself how we can save you thousands of man-hours. Signing up takes a matter of minutes and couldn’t be simpler. You can also read our case studies to see how we’ve helped services just like yours to streamline operations. 

What’s more, we will provide our software free of charge to any NHS organisation needing to rapidly and safely increase their staffing numbers over the coming weeks, to meet the demands of the Covid-19 pandemic. If you’re interested, then call us on 020 7129 8652 or email at covid19@credentially.io with the topic 'Credentially's offer'. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have. Let Credentially help solve your staffing problems, starting today.

How can you automate compliance?
Easy, contact Credentially to find out more.
Book a Demo
Our client case studies
Learn how Dr Fertility have made their compliance process simple in preparation for their CQC inspection and the ability to evidence compliance quickly for inspectors.

Find out how Urgent Care provider HUC has drastically reduced time to hire down to as little as three days by automating credentialing and onboarding processes.

3 Reasons Providers Fail CQC Inspections

1
“No system to ensure all staff have full pre-employment checks completed”
2
“Failure to deploy adequate numbers of suitably qualified staff”
3
“No system in place to review and communicate role-specific training or policies to staff”

Are you CQC ready?

Yes
No
1. Do you think there is there a link between staffing and the ability to deliver safe, effective services?
2. Do you have any digital tools, such as online staff management, that can help get the right people on duty at the right time?
3. Can you automate key aspects of employee onboarding to ensure the right mix of skills is available within your teams?
4. Can you evidence documents, DBS checks, right to work checks, certifications, training records, policies and reporting for CQC inspectors?
5. Is all your documentation regularly kept up to date?
6. Do your staff understand their responsibilities and how well can they link their work back to current guidelines and best practices?
7. Can you evidence that policies are communicated to staff and they are read and understood?
8. Do you have a digital document management system in place to ‘send and sign’ new or amended policies or documents to staff?
9. Do you record staff training and development that you can show CQC inspectors?
10. Can you provide clear evidence of how you are developing and improving your services?

Take Action

More than 5 no's?
If you answered 'no' to any of the questions then you need onboarding and credentialing software to help you get CQC compliant.
How your competitors fixed it
Between 3-5 no's?
If you answered a mix of 'yes' and 'no' then you need to improve compliance in time for your CQC inspection.
Learn how to be CQC ready
Less than 2 no's?
It sounds like you’ve got a grip on things, but did you know you can automate compliance and credentialing to further improve processes and impress CQC?
Take it to the next level
Ready to revolutionise your onboarding & compliance?
See Credentially in Action
Ready to revolutionize your onboarding & compliance?
See Credentially in Action