DoH challenged on high use of temps
The Department of Health is facing questions over the number of temporary staff it has taken on since meeting its pledge to cut its permanent workforce by over a third. The DoH has been unable to provide either HSJ or the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents civil servants, with figures showing how many temporary staff it has hired since achieving plans to cut permanent staff by 38 per cent during the year ending October 2004.
Total numbers of permanent staff fell from 3,600 to 2,245 during the period.
Now the union - which is collecting anecdotal evidence that temps are being used to 'plug gaps all over the place' - is preparing parliamentary questions on the topic for health secretary Patricia Hewitt.
PCS DoH London branch chair Malo Harvey told HSJ that the number of temps has been rising since the cuts to permanent staff took effect last year.
He said the original explanation from the DoH was that numbers had been increased in the short term 'to ease the transition', but he said current evidence suggested temporary staff were 'plugging gaps all over the place'.
A headcount by the union in the DoH's New Kings Beam House in south-east London found 188 out of 500 staff - 38 per cent - were not on permanent contracts.
'There are huge swathes where it's full of consultants and temps,' Mr Harvey added.
The union said its attempts to get accurate details from the DoH had been thwarted by changes in the structure of the department. 'Personnel has been devolved into three different teams so official figures are either vague or some way short of our estimation,' Mr Harvey said. 'It's possible that centrally they don't honestly know.'
The union is preparing to ask Ms Hewitt, through an MP on its parliamentary panel, to provide a complete breakdown by rates and periods of contract of all agency staff, contractors and consultants. It will also ask her what steps the DoH is taking to reduce the number of temporary staff.
In August, in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, the DoH told HSJ it did not have 'accurate figures' about temporary staffing, but said 'work is continuing to capture the information'.
The DoH revealed that spending on outside consultants in 2004-05 had risen to £12.8m from £10m the previous year while the staff salary calculated over January to March 2005 was £95.2m, compared with £110.7m in the same period in 2004.
http://www.hsj.co.uk/nav?page=hsj.news.story&resource=3506946
Total numbers of permanent staff fell from 3,600 to 2,245 during the period.
Now the union - which is collecting anecdotal evidence that temps are being used to 'plug gaps all over the place' - is preparing parliamentary questions on the topic for health secretary Patricia Hewitt.
PCS DoH London branch chair Malo Harvey told HSJ that the number of temps has been rising since the cuts to permanent staff took effect last year.
He said the original explanation from the DoH was that numbers had been increased in the short term 'to ease the transition', but he said current evidence suggested temporary staff were 'plugging gaps all over the place'.
A headcount by the union in the DoH's New Kings Beam House in south-east London found 188 out of 500 staff - 38 per cent - were not on permanent contracts.
'There are huge swathes where it's full of consultants and temps,' Mr Harvey added.
The union said its attempts to get accurate details from the DoH had been thwarted by changes in the structure of the department. 'Personnel has been devolved into three different teams so official figures are either vague or some way short of our estimation,' Mr Harvey said. 'It's possible that centrally they don't honestly know.'
The union is preparing to ask Ms Hewitt, through an MP on its parliamentary panel, to provide a complete breakdown by rates and periods of contract of all agency staff, contractors and consultants. It will also ask her what steps the DoH is taking to reduce the number of temporary staff.
In August, in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act, the DoH told HSJ it did not have 'accurate figures' about temporary staffing, but said 'work is continuing to capture the information'.
The DoH revealed that spending on outside consultants in 2004-05 had risen to £12.8m from £10m the previous year while the staff salary calculated over January to March 2005 was £95.2m, compared with £110.7m in the same period in 2004.
http://www.hsj.co.uk/nav?page=hsj.news.story&resource=3506946
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