NHS Tayside staff turnover has reduced during uncertain times
Fear of the future is forcing NHS Tayside employees to stay put, causing a "sharp decline" in staff turnover.
- By Marjory Inglis, health reporter
- Published in the Courier : 23.11.10
- Published online : 23.11.10 @ 12.21pm
Hundreds of employees who would previously have left are hanging on to their jobs, and it's not just ambitious younger staff who are choosing not to move on in the economic climate.
George Doherty, assistant director of human resources, said staff are choosing to work beyond the expected retirement age for the NHS, causing difficulties for those trying to predict recruitment requirements.
Until very recently local managers were looking for new ways to attract staff in to the organisation over the next few years, aware that a quarter of the workforce would reach retirement age at around the same time as the available pool of school leavers would shrink.
But the picture has changed dramatically, making planning for future staff needs almost impossible.
Mr Doherty said in recent years the annual rate of staff turnover has been around 10% — that equates to around 1400 people leaving every year. Since April there has been a "sharp decline" to 6.8%.
'Sharp decline'
"It has significantly dropped," said Mr Doherty. "You can only plan for that which you know and nobody saw this coming. We are about to enter into another cycle of workforce planning and this is one of the issues we are now struggling with — the degree to which predictability of staff turnover has significantly reduced.
"A drop of 6.8% since April is a sharp decline."
He said the "global economic position" is having an impact on every household and, in Tayside as elsewhere, creating uncertainty for individuals.
Some NHS employees are entitled to retire from 55, while others are eligible at 60 and others at 65.
"One of the issues for us is the extent to which we can actually predict with any accuracy when staff will leave because the sands have shifted," said Mr Doherty.
He said 24 months ago managers could plan for a set amount of staff to leave within a time period and know how many replacements would be needed.
NHS Tayside has policies to help employees achieve an appropriate work/life balance, particularly important for staff with caring responsibilities at home, but not necessarily something they would benefit from elsewhere.
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