Fat cat or wage slave?

I recently almost overlooked a round robin email from HR. It's a good job I didn't hit "delete" because it contained the good news that NHS staff on Agenda for Change pay rates (that means everyone except doctors, dentists and "very senior" managers) have been awarded an inflationary pay increase.

Actually, it wouldn't have mattered if I had missed the email. I can always find out about inflationary increases and other changes to terms and conditions in the pay circulars posted on the NHS Employers website, where I can also find the current pay rates.

This one website is a huge resource for all aspects of pay, terms and conditions. On it you'll find information on everything from equal pay and mileage allowances to your rights in case of redundancy. It is the place to go if you want to see a job profile for your role, or find out about Knowledge and Skills Frameworks.

Medical staff aren't neglected on the site - it covers everything from accommodation (an issue which has hit the headlines today) to flexible training and consultant job planning toolkits.

Obviously NHS Employers is not the only source of information on employment conditions - there is the BMA , UNISON and other unions, as well as your own HR department - but it's a good place to start.

(c) creative commons attributed

Three of a kind

Today I wanted to draw together some information about our local Strategic Health Authority. I hoped to open with a snappy analogy to explain exactly how and where the SHA sits - between the Department of Health and individual trusts, commissioning but not providing services, providing strategic leadership, considering finance.

However, try as I might I cannot find a good analogy for the NHS and its different layers and functions, so we'll go straight to the SHA and let it speak for itself, as it were.

The SHA has existed for almost two years, being established on 1st July 2006. It describes itself as "the regional headquarters of the NHS". The current SHA strategy, "Towards the Best, Together" is out for consultation now. There are also various consultations on local services and what they should include.

The SHA website is part of a triumvirate of lookalike websites. The second is the website of the East of England Multi-Professional Deanery. Deaneries used to oversee eduction for doctors and dentists, but have now expanded their remit. There are sections on the website for AHPs and Healthcare Scientists. The deanery is also concerned with workforce development.

The final strand of this online trio is Leadership and Talent Management. This strand focuses on developing leaders and on succession planning. Their document library covers everything from Action Learning to happiness.

Each of the three sites can be reached from the home page of the others. It's a clear indication that, however things work, strategic planning, delivery of services, education and training for staff, and leadership and workforce planning go hand in hand.

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The big cheese

Another interactive post! I was recently asked for help by a regular library user. He had just been elected to a grand post on a grand committee. While up on all things medical he was in need of some help finding information on the policies and politics. This is the list I gave him, with a few embellishments.

Most Trust's these days have their own website. Essex Rivers has one, so has the Mental Health Trust and the local PCT. These should hopefully give you names of senior managers, a strategy, perhaps some financial information and other basics about the Trust as an organisation. There is also the Strategic Health Authority.

The National Library for Health has a section on health management, explaining everything you need to know in short documents. The King's Fund has a useful collection of information, including some nice briefings on key issues (although beware a slight bias towards all things London).

The Department of Health, of course, is the bit that churns out a lot of the policy and documentation. They have a whole section on management issues. Everything new on the site gets mentioned on this page, and the latest "policies and initiatives" for secondary care also have a page.

The BMA have information on health policy, NHS funding and "system reform". Just bear in mind that the BMA is a union and so may have a not entirely unbiased view of things...

Current hot topics are Lord Darsi's review of the NHS and (for medics) the Tooke report on modernising medical careers.

Heath policy is always big in the news, so keep your eye on the BBC and on a couple of newspapers - perhaps the Guardian and the Telegraph, to keep abreast of the issues. There is also a section on the on the library current awareness page on local Trusts in the news.

Finally, for a grounding in the how and why of where we got where we are today, there are plenty of books in the library on the history, the whys and wherefores of the NHS.

Image (c) creative commons