NHS consultant job planning viewed as a ‘tick-box exercise’ by clinicians - says National Assembly committee
The job planning process for NHS consultants in Wales is considered little more than a ‘tick-box’ exercise by some clinicians and NHS organisations, according to a National Assembly committee.
The Public Accounts Committee found that while recruitment and retention of consultants have improved since the introduction of the contract in 2003, many of its other key intended benefits have not been realised.
The Committee was told that a significant proportion of consultants are working hours each week beyond the European Working Time Directive.
A great many also do not have their job plan reviewed annually which, in the Committee’s view, limits Health Boards’ ability to marshal and plan their resources effectively, weakening their ability to plan for the demands ahead.
The Committee concluded that to some extent individual Health Boards were largely left to implement the benefits of the contract- or not- by themselves, with limited input from the Welsh Government.
It believes it is vitally important that NHS organisations strengthen their arrangements for working with consultants and that they undertake job planning more effectively to ensure that they deliver the services which their local populations need.
“NHS consultants play a key role in our Health Services and there is tangible evidence that the consultant contract introduced in 2003 has improved both recruitment and retention of staff,” said Darren Millar AM, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee.
“But given the seismic nature of the changes required of Health Boards in Wales, the lack of strategic leadership by the Welsh Government is concerning and we consider that every effort should be made to extract maximum public value from the existing consultant contract.
“The dedication of individual consultants to addressing patients’ needs is commendable. But we don’t believe the status quo of so many consistently working such long hours is sustainable.
“We are disappointed that on a number of key issues concerning the consultant contract, the Welsh Government has not provided more dynamic, strategic leadership.”
The Committee makes nine recommendations in its report including:
That the Welsh Government publishes a timetable of its actions to provide strategic leadership on job planning arrangements in Wales, including the development of all-Wales guidance and how it intends to hold Local Health Boards to account for its implementation;
That the Welsh Government works with NHS organisations to develop national guidance on consultants’ working hours, and actions that Health Bodies can take to reduce the need for excessive working hours; and,
That the Welsh Government provides the Committee with annual updates on its work with health boards and the deanery to develop and implement specific strategies for recruiting specialist consultants to address workforce and expertise shortages.
The Consultant Contract in Wales: Progress with securing the intended benefits.