UK Health Workers say Skills Shortages to Blame for Poor Patient Care
11/08/2016
Nearly 90% of UK health care workers believe that the shortages of skills within the sector are to blame for poor standards of patient care. Nearly 80% are convinced that low salaries do not tempt the brightest and capable into the field.
A study was conducted by the site CV Library, which found that the top 3 areas which affected skill shortages according to 1000 healthcare workers were care for the elderly at 67%, mental health care at 56% and nursing home care at 35%. Over half of the workers questioned were sceptical of the NHS ability to deliver a seven day service.
When asked whether these concerned has been allayed to their bosses, 65% said that they had raised such fears with their current employer. Moreover, 77% asked said that restructuring current staff according to more stringent criterion and compensation packages would lead to a much improved service. Over 80% thought that better training of existing employees could help, whilst only 50% actually believed that Britain has the manpower that is necessary to fill the positions that require filling.
“Our findings reveal the extent to which skills shortages in the healthcare industry are affecting patient care,” Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library said. “While candidates point towards low salaries as one of the reasons behind this, financial cuts are happening across the NHS, meaning many healthcare organisations are unable to meet demands. Organisations are having to become even savvier when searching for new talent; we are seeing the most successful results amongst business that are taking a more targeted approach to recruitment, and complementing this with training to up-skill existing talent and make use of the resource already in the business.
“Our research found that 35.5% of workers think more training and development opportunities would entice people into the healthcare sector, as well as better opportunities for progression (31.6%),” Biggins said.
Many health care providers have sought to deal with the skills gap by employing workers on zero hours contracts despite nearly two thirds (64%) claiming that these contracts usually deter people from joining the field.
If the industry is to see a seven-day NHS work effectively, then action must be taken today to better understand the supply of healthcare workers and address current and future resourcing issues,” Biggins said. “While a regular job posting would suffice a few years ago, nowadays organisations must be proactive and targeted to ensure they snap up the best talent. Unfortunately, the industry is facing skills shortages and skilled workers don’t hang around for long; working with recruitment experts that understand the pressures to help find the very best candidates can help significantly.”
