According to a new report from LaingBuisson, the UK’s temporary healthcare staffing market is set to rebound strongly from the impact of COVID-19. In its fifth Healthcare Workforce & Recruitment UK Market Report, LaingBuisson states that record waiting lists at UK hospitals will contribute to a rapid recovery, after the value of the market fell as a result of COVID-19.
The report estimates that the UK’s temporary healthcare and recruitment sector is currently worth around £4.3 billion. LaingBuisson states that the NHS is responsible for 70 per cent of this value, while the care home sector accounts for 14 per cent.
Aside from the pandemic, the sector has experienced numerous issues over the past few years. The most significant being the introduction of IR35 rules for public sector organisations in 2017, with the legislation then being extended to private sector organisations in April of this year.
IR35 has had a considerable impact on the NHS’s supply of temporary workers from healthcare staffing and recruitment agencies. LaingBuisson also notes concerns that IR35 is not being sufficiently enforced, indicating that many temporary workers in the healthcare sector may be operating under schemes that contravene the legislation.
The author of the report, LaingBuisson’s M. Suhail Mirza, commented: “The past few years has seen the government promise to take steps to resolve staff shortages and levels of agency spend in the NHS. Most recently, this has come in the form of the NHS Interim People Plan in June 2019 and then the full NHS People Plan in July 2020.”
“These promise to improve leadership and create a new operating model for the NHS workforce. The full People Plan also lays out a vision of offering flexibility to all NHS staff alongside developing a culture of inclusion and belonging.”
In the report, it is also noted that changes to NHS Professionals over the past few years has seen the NHS’s reliance on agency workers reduced.
