Delivering the NHS Connecting For Health National Programme for IT is proving to be an enormous challenge, says the National Audit Office.
All elements of the Programme are advancing and some are complete, but the original timescales for the electronic Care Records Service, one of the central elements of the Programme, turned out to be unachievable, raised unrealistic expectations and put confidence in the Programme at risk. Today’s progress report on the Programme by the National Audit Office concludes that the original vision remains intact and still appears feasible. However, it is likely to take until 2014-15 before every NHS Trust in England has fully deployed the care records systems, four years later than planned. In the North, Midlands and East area, the software has taken much longer to develop than planned, so some Trusts have had to take an interim system. Completing the development of the system and introducing it in this area are significant challenges still to be addressed.The estimated cost of the Programme is £12.7 billion. The costs of the main contracts have remained broadly unchanged, aside from the purchase of increased functionality. Because of the delay in deployments, actual expenditure to date (£3.6 billion by 31 March 2008) has been much lower than expected. Planned ‘go live’ dates were missed for many of the first Trusts to take the new care records systems and the NHS and suppliers are now increasing their emphasis on establishing realistic timelines for deployments, reflecting the circumstances of each individual Trust.According to today’s report, the success of the Programme will depend on the commitment of NHS staff. The Department’s latest survey, conducted in spring 2007, showed that 67 per cent of nurses and 62 per cent of doctors expected the new systems to improve patient care. Identifying and realising the benefits of the systems are essential to raising confidence further and convincing all staff of the value of the Programme. The Department reported on the benefits of the Programme for the first time in March 2008.Tim Burr, head of the National Audit Office, said today:"The scale of the challenge involved in delivering the National Programme for IT has proved to be far greater than envisaged at the start, with serious delays in delivering the new care records systems. Progress is being made, however, and financial savings and other benefits are beginning to emerge. The priority now is to finish developing and deploying care records systems that will help NHS Trusts to achieve the Programme’s intended benefits of improved services and better patient care."
* Article from http://www.publictechnology.net/
Showing posts with label Staff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Staff. Show all posts
Friday, May 16, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Salary Growth - Credit Crunch
The REC and KPMG recently published their Report on Jobs which the recruiter reported on. Please find their report below: -
Apparently, salary growth slowed with modest recovery in permanent hires and rise in temporary jobs in March bringing a modest rise in permanent staff appointments while salary inflation eased to its lowest for two and a half years.
Weaker demand for staff and an easing of skills shortages contributed to low wage inflation. Although permanent salaries continued to rise in March, the rate of growth slowed. Inflation of temporary staff pay quickened slightly, but was only marginally above February's 22-month low. Meanwhile, brisk growth of temporary staff appointments suggests that employers continue to favour flexible workforces. Permanent staff placements rose modestly in March, while growth of temporary billings held firm. Recruitment consultants reported a rebound in permanent staff placements in March, following a slight dip the previous month. The number of people placed in permanent roles rose modestly, while anecdotal evidence suggested that the expansion in placements was supported by increased activity levels at client companies. Demand for permanent staff rose across seven of the eight categories of permanent staff monitored by the March survey. The strongest expansion rate was for engineers and construction workers, followed by executive and professional staff. There was higher demand for temporary or contract employees across the board in March. Again, the strongest rate of growth was for engineering and construction, followed by secretarial/clerical. Demand for blue collar staff once again lagged in last place.The knock-on effect of the credit crunch was first seen by the financial services sector, with annual growth of vacancies falling since last summer to a rate of just 2.7% in the three months to February. This is the second lowest in more than two years. Alan Nolan, director at KPMG, said: "The banking crisis is clearly taking its toll on the financial sector. IT and computing are among the sectors where demand for both permanent and temporary staff is weakest." However, fears are growing that jitters in the City will have a knock-on effect on other sectors. Although demand for staff in the engineering and construction sector is still strong, major contractors now worry that the turmoil in the financial markets will result in major office developments becoming casualties of the credit crunch. "No matter what sector, employers are becoming increasingly cautious about the outlook. Demand for staff is slowing and employers are hedging their bets with more emphasis on temporary hires, while pay pressures are easing somewhat. This further evidence of a softening labour market is a green light for an interest rate cut this week." Helen Reynolds, acting chief executive, Recruitment and Employment Confederation, added that the modest rebound in permanent placements suggests the labour market is holding up. She said: "Employers are dealing with the economic uncertainty by keeping close check on salaries, as indicated by permanent staff wage inflation coming in at a two-and-a-half-year low. Currently, the worst effects on the jobs market are being felt in the City, as banks retrench. But demand in other industry sectors such as engineering and construction shows no sign of slowing." However, job losses on the scale of the dotcom crash in 2001 are highly unlikely, Reynolds added.
Should you wish to see the full report, please do contact us on info@ggrecruitment.co.uk.
Apparently, salary growth slowed with modest recovery in permanent hires and rise in temporary jobs in March bringing a modest rise in permanent staff appointments while salary inflation eased to its lowest for two and a half years.
Weaker demand for staff and an easing of skills shortages contributed to low wage inflation. Although permanent salaries continued to rise in March, the rate of growth slowed. Inflation of temporary staff pay quickened slightly, but was only marginally above February's 22-month low. Meanwhile, brisk growth of temporary staff appointments suggests that employers continue to favour flexible workforces. Permanent staff placements rose modestly in March, while growth of temporary billings held firm. Recruitment consultants reported a rebound in permanent staff placements in March, following a slight dip the previous month. The number of people placed in permanent roles rose modestly, while anecdotal evidence suggested that the expansion in placements was supported by increased activity levels at client companies. Demand for permanent staff rose across seven of the eight categories of permanent staff monitored by the March survey. The strongest expansion rate was for engineers and construction workers, followed by executive and professional staff. There was higher demand for temporary or contract employees across the board in March. Again, the strongest rate of growth was for engineering and construction, followed by secretarial/clerical. Demand for blue collar staff once again lagged in last place.The knock-on effect of the credit crunch was first seen by the financial services sector, with annual growth of vacancies falling since last summer to a rate of just 2.7% in the three months to February. This is the second lowest in more than two years. Alan Nolan, director at KPMG, said: "The banking crisis is clearly taking its toll on the financial sector. IT and computing are among the sectors where demand for both permanent and temporary staff is weakest." However, fears are growing that jitters in the City will have a knock-on effect on other sectors. Although demand for staff in the engineering and construction sector is still strong, major contractors now worry that the turmoil in the financial markets will result in major office developments becoming casualties of the credit crunch. "No matter what sector, employers are becoming increasingly cautious about the outlook. Demand for staff is slowing and employers are hedging their bets with more emphasis on temporary hires, while pay pressures are easing somewhat. This further evidence of a softening labour market is a green light for an interest rate cut this week." Helen Reynolds, acting chief executive, Recruitment and Employment Confederation, added that the modest rebound in permanent placements suggests the labour market is holding up. She said: "Employers are dealing with the economic uncertainty by keeping close check on salaries, as indicated by permanent staff wage inflation coming in at a two-and-a-half-year low. Currently, the worst effects on the jobs market are being felt in the City, as banks retrench. But demand in other industry sectors such as engineering and construction shows no sign of slowing." However, job losses on the scale of the dotcom crash in 2001 are highly unlikely, Reynolds added.
Should you wish to see the full report, please do contact us on info@ggrecruitment.co.uk.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
