NHS Vacancy Statistics. England, February 2015 to October 2015 Provisional experimental statistics

Transcription

1 NHS Vacancy Statistics England, February 2015 to October 2015 Provisional experimental statistics Published 25 February 2016

2 We are the trusted national provider of high-quality information, data and IT systems for health and social care. This report may be of interest to members of the public, policy officials and other stakeholders to make local and national comparisons and to monitor the quality and effectiveness of services. Author: Workforce and Facilities Team, Health and Social Care Information Centre Responsible statistician: Nick Armitage, Section Head Version: V1.0 Date of publication: 25 February Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

3 Contents Summary 4 Experimental Statistics 4 User feedback 4 Introduction 5 Data Quality 5 Accuracy 6 Relevance 6 Comparability and Coherence 6 Timeliness and Punctuality 6 Accessibility 7 Performance cost and Respondent Burden 7 Confidentiality, Transparency and Security 7 Points to note 8 Results 10 Summary of Consultation Responses 12 High level summary 12 Key themes covered in the responses 12 Proposed actions in response to the feedback 15 Further Feedback 16 3 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

4 Summary This is the second provisional experimental publication of NHS vacancy statistics created from administrative data related to published vacancy adverts obtained from NHS Jobs, the main recruitment website for the NHS. The statistics referred to in this document and the accompanying tables are exploratory and provide information on the administrative data available from NHS Jobs as much as on the recruitment of staff. This publication provides figures which are an insight to recruitment in the NHS but which should be treated with caution, and users are discouraged from attempting to draw any conclusions from this data at this time. Additionally, this second publication summarises the feedback received in response to the first publication and seeks further input regarding the future development of this publication series. Further updates regarding data quality, consistency and comparability will be provided in the next publication and the aim is to begin to extend the time series to enable users to make more use of the information it contains as the series develops. Experimental Statistics The classification of experimental statistics is in keeping with the UK Statistics Authority s Code of Practice. Experimental statistics are new official statistics that are undergoing evaluation. They are published in order to involve users and stakeholders in their development, and as a means to build-in quality at an early stage. The UK Statistics Code of Practice states that effective user engagement is fundamental to both trust in statistics and securing maximum public value and that as suppliers of information, it is important that we involve users in the evaluation of experimental statistics. The UK Statistics Code of Practice can be accessed via the following web-link: User feedback One of the functions of this publication is to provide a summary of the user feedback generated in response to the first publication and to ask users to respond to the updated figures, and the information about the available data. Additionally, feedback is particularly welcome from users regarding their own practical experience of recruitment in the NHS and we will use this information to refine and focus further statistics. A summary of the feedback generated in response to the consultation aspect of the first publication is provided at page 12. How to respond to the developments and questions raised in this publication is set out in the Further Feedback part of this report on page Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

5 Introduction This is the second publication of Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce vacancy statistics based upon administrative data relating to published vacancy adverts from the NHS Jobs website. The figures do not include vacancy data for GPs or practice staff. These figures are presented as experimental and provisional and are not directly comparable with previous NHS workforce vacancy statistics. Due to methodological changes between the first and second publication, it is not possible to directly compare the figures over the whole time period which is covered by the two publications in this series. Whilst there have been some improvements in the data quality and our understanding of the underlying administrative data, it is not our intention that users should draw conclusions from this data at this early stage of its development. Despite the changes to the underlying data and the processing undertaken, as one vacancy advert can be used to fill multiple vacancies it is still not possible to accurately state the number of vacancies in a period. Therefore the only accurate statement remains that the number of advertised vacancy full-time equivalents shows the minimum number of vacancies advertised. Because of the differences in practice between different organisations and across different staff groups it is not possible to state the precise level of undercounting, but it is possible to say that it will vary for different staff groups for example the undercount for nurses is likely to be greater than for other staff groups because of the high-level of rolling adverts used for that staff group, and also the advertising of vacancies directly to audiences overseas which will not be undertaken through NHS Jobs. The statistics presented in this report relate to HCHS workforce vacancy adverts published through NHS Jobs during the period of 1 st February 2015 to 31 st October 2015 inclusive. Whilst there is a slight overlap with the data provided in the first publication it is not possible to use this new data to extend the original time series due to the change in methodology, hence only information for this time period is provided in this publication. The change in methodology is a move from a straight count of adverts published to an attempt to account for the full time equivalent of the roles advertised, based upon the information input in NHS Jobs. A more detailed explanation is provided in the Data Quality and Points to Note sections below. A decision was made to publish all the data available to the HSCIC by the end of December 2015, rather than delay publication whilst waiting for additional data to make up a full 12 months. As in the first publication this has meant that non-standard quarters have been used to split the time series. Following further development and a stabilisation of the underlying data source and methodology, it may be possible that future publications will not only build-upon but rework this time series and so bring it into line with the quarterly time series familiar to other workforce information publications. Thank you to all those who responded to the consultation element of the first publication. Your input has been invaluable and has been summarised in the consultation response element of this publication. As this is still very much a developing publication series and data resource we again request feedback following this publication. Data Quality As with any new data source there are a number of data quality issues which require further investigation as the data is exploited further. As far as possible these have been accounted for in the processing undertaken by the HSCIC but some issues still remain within the data as published. For example a small number of test adverts which have not been possible to remove and apparent contradictions between different fields within the data. Unlike the first publication, the data upon which this publication is based included a small number of invalid 5 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

6 occupation codes. Where possible these have been imputed by the HSCIC and where this has not been possible they have been assigned to the unspecified category. The most significant change with regards to data quality has been the move from a count of the number of adverts published, with no attempt to account for the full time equivalent (fte) vacancies they represent, to an attempt to use the fte information provided by NHS Jobs relating to those adverts. Whilst this new data source contains a number of issues in itself, it is thought to be a more accurate reflection of the situation than was the previous information. Please read the Points to note section below for more detail. Accuracy These statistics are experimental and provisional. They are provided as an indication of the potential of the data available and as a guide to the number of published vacancies advertised and other related information. However they should be treated with caution, particularly with respect to what they actually refer to and their interpretation. Relevance The statistics exploit recent developments in the NHS Jobs website, and the administrative data it contains, which allow the production of information to answer some of the frequent requests for information from users relating to recruitment in the NHS. Comparability and Coherence These figures are not directly comparable with any previous figures published on vacancies in the NHS; this includes the first in the series of Vacancy Statistics publications due to the change in methodology from a count of the number of adverts published to using the fte information provided by NHS Jobs relating to those adverts. It is also difficult to link figures in this publication to other workforce publications by the HSCIC due to differences in data source, methodology and coverage. This publication aims to help establish a set of statistics which will become an accepted standard. Timeliness and Punctuality This publication has been produced using less than a full year s data to avoid delay in publication. The results of the consultation which relate to the timeliness and punctuality of the statistics suggest that users would like to see the data produced on a more frequent basis, perhaps monthly or quarterly, although there were also responses that such frequent refreshes of the data were not required. A common response was that the data should be split into monthly rather than quarterly periods over more of the analysis, although this information did not need to be published on a monthly basis. With this feedback in mind the HSCIC will consider increasing the frequency of the publication in future, provided that the availability of data will allow this change. In the meantime the publication will remain biannual until it has completed its initial developmental stage to provide sufficient time to allow for developments and improvements to the analysis provided. Over this time it may be possible to provide more of the data on a monthly rather than quarterly time series as requested by several respondents to the consultation. 6 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

7 The HSCIC will work with NHS Jobs to ensure that the timeliness and punctuality of the statistics are maximised and the frequency of the publication will become fixed as part of an on-going series. Accessibility The feedback function of this publication is to allow all users to understand the data, to provide input into our understanding of the underlying data source and to determine what useful statistics should be produced from it in the future. Performance cost and Respondent Burden The availability of this data was part of the enhancement of NHS Jobs service envisioned by the Department of Health to provide a proxy for vacancy information from administrative data to avoid any burden on the NHS. Several of the responses to the consultation propose that a direct data collection should be reinstated in order to gain access to the level of data required to supplement the information available from NHS Jobs. If such an approach were taken, full consideration would be given to minimising the burden of the additional data collection and focusing on the information which is available to and needed by those organisations involved in healthcare workforce recruitment. Confidentiality, Transparency and Security The standard HSCIC data security and confidentiality policies have been applied in the production of these statistics, though the information upon which they are based relates to published vacancy adverts and not to individual applicants and therefore no identifiable data has been used in the production of these statistics. 7 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

8 Points to note This section summarises general points which need to be considered alongside the figures provided in the tables that make up this publication. Although there is some reference here to the responses to the consultation, the majority of those issues are covered in the section relating to the consultation and the proposed developments to this publication series in response to it. 1. Despite this publication being called Vacancy Statistics the figures in the tables provided do not represent vacancies, although they relate to vacancies. This report provides an indication of the advertised vacancy full time equivalents (fte) based upon the data relating to vacancy adverts placed on NHS Jobs whose published date falls within the quarter specified and limited to known NHS organisations within the stated regions for published vacancies advertised as being of Fixed Term or Permanent type only. This differs slightly from the first publication which was based on the number of unique vacancy adverts and did not attempt to account for the fte advertised. This change is both in response to feedback to the first publication and a change to the data provided by NHS Jobs upon which this analysis is based along with the improvement in the accuracy and completeness of the fte data within NHS Jobs. Although the fte field is now completed for all vacancy adverts and the figures are of significantly better quality than was previously the case, there remain some issues with regards to the way in which this field is completed. For example the inclusion of hours rather than fte, the use of a default number for rolling adverts and fte inflation related to system interface issues for reused adverts etc. The HSCIC has sought some direct input from users of the system and corrected those records where it has gained additional information. Based upon this information, the feedback to the consultation and cross comparison of different fields within the data it has also been necessary to undertake some additional cleansing of the fte data as received. 2. Despite the changes to the underlying data and the processing undertaken, as one vacancy advert can be used to fill multiple vacancies it is still not possible to accurately state the number of vacancies in a period. Therefore the only accurate statement remains that the number of advertised vacancy fte shows the minimum number of vacancies advertised. Further feedback on this development is very much welcomed to enhance our understanding both of the usefulness of the figures provided and also in relation to the completing of fte information related to vacancy adverts within NHS Jobs. 3. Vacancies advertised are classified in various ways, with some ambiguity around the staff groups. NHS Jobs uses a set of staff groupings based on the National Workforce Data Set (NWD) Staff Groups. These are shown in Table 1. This grouping is also available in the Electronic Staff Record System (ESR), the main HR and payment system for the NHS. This form of categorisation is not currently included in standard workforce statistics published by the HSCIC. Another staff grouping is shown in Table 3. These are based on Occupation Code ( which allows categorisation at several levels of detail. Table 3a shows the main functional grouping, whilst Table 3b is based upon the staff groups used in standard HSCIC 8 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

9 workforce publications to give more detail. The staff groups presented in both parts of Table 3 are not directly comparable with the Staff Groups in Table 1. The HSCIC was advised that the Occupation Code classification mechanism within NHS Jobs allows for adverts to be created without specifying a particular code, and that the means of inputting a code when creating an advert may contribute to issues with the classification of adverts in this way. This is evidenced in the fact Table 3 shows there are a significant number of published vacancy adverts where Occupation Code has not been specified. Unlike the first publication a small number of Occupation Codes have had to be imputed by the HSCIC due to issues in the data, for example transposed codes. The NWD Staff Group has been included in other tables because it is a mandatory field within NHS Jobs and therefore is complete for all adverts. Although there may be some minor data quality issues it provides a more complete way of categorising staff group for this data than Occupation Codes. Due to the difference in the origin of the two staff group classifications they are not directly comparable. For example some nurse occupation codes showing as Admin and Clerical staff under the NWD Data Set Staff Group. Improvements in the processing of the data have removed the very small discrepancy in the overall numbers in Table 3 compared to the other tables which was present in the first publication that was related to categorisation in the staff groups presented in Table 3b. 4. The Area of Work information presented in Table 2 gives an indication of the areas which the adverts relate to, for example in Accident and Emergency or Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 5. Not all trusts will use NHS Jobs in the same way, or even at all in some cases. If they use it to publish a vacancy then the data will record that and the system will record the number of web hits on the advert and the applications submitted, although organisations may choose to close an advert early if the number of applications is particularly high. However if they do not use NHS Jobs to shortlist applicants then we will not have the full statistics on numbers shortlisted, and if they do not update the site with the details of applicants appointed then we will only have partial data on that as well. In general the completion of data gets less further along the recruitment process and this is visible in Tables Currently the data does not clearly specify a date of recruitment so it is not possible to quantify how long it has taken to recruit or whether an advert has failed to recruit. This means that we cannot replicate previously published vacancy statistics which showed a vacancy rate for vacancies outstanding for 3 months or more. In future it may be possible to give an indication of which adverts have been re-opened, although this may include both adverts which had previously failed to lead to a successful recruitment and also successful adverts which had simply been reused. 7. NHS Jobs does not include the standard list of NHS Organisation Codes upon which the majority of HSCIC workforce publications are based. 9 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

10 8. Whilst the system does contain organisation information relating to those bodies placing adverts and some indication of their region, it is not suitable for secondary analysis and the HSCIC has had to undertake some processing to assign the adverts standard organisation code and regions. Because of the assumptions made in this processing the information is not suitable for analysis below Health Education England (HEE) Region level at this time. The data has been limited to only include English NHS organisations which as far as possible reflect the organisations included in the standard HSCIC workforce publications, but further consideration needs to be given to it in response to the consultation as there is a strong theme of requests for more granular organisational data. Some organisations have been excluded, for example Hospices, Local Authorities, Charities, Private Organisations, Universities, Schools, Local Education and Training Boards and GP Practices. There is only partial coverage in these sectors so analysis on these organisations would be incomplete. As with any new administrative data source there are concerns about completeness of the fields; what the available fields relate to; the classification of vacancy Staff Groups, Area of Work and Occupation Codes and consistency of practice at trusts. There are also inconsistencies within the data with some records containing contradicting information. In these cases the fields were investigated and those we had a greater confidence in were selected. The responses to the consultation attached to the first publication have helped us understand more about the way the system is used and provided a platform to begin considering how improvements may be made to the quality of the administrative data NHS Jobs produces by working with individual users. Further opportunity to contribute to the development of this publication series is provided in this publication. Results The tables showing the preliminary statistics from NHS Jobs data are available from this link. The data is provided for NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) organisations in England and excludes the relatively small number of adverts placed on NHS Jobs outside of this sector, for example it does not include adverts for roles within Primary Care. The data is related to adverts published on NHS Jobs between 1 st February 2015 and 31 st October 2015 inclusive, and is split into the following quarters for all but Table 8 and the graphing tool which shows monthly data: February - April; May - July; August - October. Care should be taken in the interpretation of wider comparisons using these figures. These experimental provisional statistics are not directly comparable to previously published information on NHS Vacancies, or to other current HSCIC publications relating to the NHS workforce. Due to methodological changes between the first and second publication, it is not possible to directly compare the figures over the whole time period which is covered by the two publications in this series. The change in methodology is a move from a count of the number of adverts published to using the full-time equivalent information provided by NHS Jobs relating to those adverts. A more detailed explanation is provided in the Points to Note section above. As one vacancy advert can be used to fill multiple vacancies it is still not possible to accurately state the number of vacancies in a period. Therefore the only accurate statement remains that the number of advertised vacancy fte shows the minimum number of vacancies advertised. It is not possible to state the precise level of undercounting, but it is possible to 10 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

11 say that it will vary for different staff groups for example the undercount for nurses is likely to be greater than for other staff groups because of a number of issues including the highlevel of rolling adverts used for that staff group. Whilst there have been some improvements in the data quality and our understanding of the underlying administrative data, it is not our intention that users should draw conclusions from this data at this early stage of its development. The figures are provided as an illustration of the kind of information which is available, but which needs further development to finalise processes and assumptions. The tables contain data for the following: Table 1 Number of advertised vacancy full time equivalents in England by NWD Staff Group and Health Education England Region, published for each quarter Table 2 Number of advertised vacancy full time equivalents in England by Secondary Area of Work and Health Education England Region, published for each quarter Table 3a Number of advertised vacancy full time equivalents in England by High Level Staff Group based on Occupation Code and Health Education England Region, published for each quarter Table 3b Number of advertised vacancy full time equivalents in England by Occupation Code Staff Group and Health Education England Region, published for each quarter Table 4 Number of web hits per advertised vacancy full time equivalent in England by NWD Staff Group and Health Education England Region, published for each quarter Table 5 Number of applications per advertised vacancy full time equivalent in England by NWD Staff Group and Health Education England Region, published for each quarter Table 6 Number of shortlisted applicants per advertised vacancy full time equivalent in England by NWD Staff Group and Health Education England Region, published for each quarter Table 7 Number of advertised vacancy full time equivalents and appointed posts in England by NWD Staff Group and Health Education England Region, published for each quarter Table 8 Number of advertised vacancy full time equivalents in England published per month by Health Education England Region A graphing tool to show the number of advertised vacancy full time equivalents in England by NWD Staff Group and Health Education England Region, published for each month 11 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

12 Summary of Consultation Responses As the data from the NHS Jobs system had not previously been used to create statistics and we are still working to understand its potential and how it can be used to provide the information that users require, we included a consultation in the first publication. This section provides a summary of how this feedback has helped the HSCIC understand what users require from this new publication series and data source whilst also increasing our understanding of what data is available and some of the issues with the data. High level summary A total of 19 responses were received to the consultation, several of which summarised the views of a number of individual responders. The majority of responses came from NHS trusts and Health Education England (including the National Workforce Planners network). Responses were also received from the Department of Health, a Clinical Commissioning Group, a Commissioning Support Unit, the East Midlands Recruitment Streamlining Group, the Royal College of Nursing, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Faculty of Public Health Medicine, a Local Authority and the Welsh NHS. Without exception everyone who responded to the original publication consultation has contributed to the improvement of NHS vacancy statistics. We are very grateful to every single respondent. If you wish to discuss any aspect of this publication or provide further feedback on the NHS Jobs information as a data source, or indeed any additional potential data sources relating to healthcare workforce recruitment information, please contact Nick and the team via the contact details provided below. Key themes covered in the responses A number of key themes were covered across the 19 separate responses, and they have been summarised here. More detail of the issues raised are provided in the sections below, or earlier in the bulletin with regards to specific topics covered in the data quality statement for example. The key messages derived from the feedback include: 1. Overall, the publication was thought to be a positive step, but one which did not go far enough; 2. There is a repeated desire for data to be provided on the number of vacancies rather than advertisements and if possible, for the creation of vacancy rates; 3. It was repeatedly mentioned that there was not enough detail. For example a desire to see individual organisation level data, more detail on specific Job Roles/Occupations and an interest in splitting the analysis with regards to permanent or fixed term roles; 4. Feedback highlighted gaps in the underlying data source missing vacancies including those not advertised, for example when vacancies are held back as a means of cost saving (perhaps as much as 40-50% of total in some trusts); vacancies which are solely advertised overseas; those which are advertised by other means or rolling adverts which could cover 100 s of posts; 12 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

13 5. Conversely, some responses highlighted potential over counting in the data where the advertisements are for new posts / services or where it is known a post holder is to leave in the future which are not technically current vacancies; 6. Feedback highlighted other data quality issues including the variation in practice and use of NHS Jobs, which is particularly evident in the drop off of numbers in tables 4-7 which show that many organisations are only using the advertising function of NHS Jobs and not carrying out the whole process using the NHS Jobs system. Other key data quality issues related to the completion of different fields, such as NHS Occupation Code, which was seen as having a serious impact on the usefulness of the data; 7. Interesting feedback was provided on the understanding of definitions related to this topic. There are so many different approaches to defining a Vacancy and even more therefore of a Vacancy Rate. Any future developments must encourage consistency and ensure that a clear understanding of what is being asked for or provided is covered in any related communications; 8. In relation to some of the gaps and data quality issues identified above, there were several calls for direct data collection and further utilisation of other data sources, for example the Electronic Staff Record system; 9. Additionally, there were suggestions that the publication series be renamed to avoid confusion and risk of comparison to previous Vacancy Surveys and vacancy information from other countries (e.g. Scotland), and that it needs to be made clearer that the data is more of a recruitment activity indicator than it is numbers of actual vacancies; 10. There were requests for more frequent publication or at least data broken down into shorter time periods across more of the analysis, which is covered in more detail in the Timeliness section under Data Quality; 11. There was also a desire for information relating to hard to fill vacancies, posts which are re-advertised (possibly with enhanced conditions) or at least an indication of the average time taken to complete a recruitment process; 12. Finally, there were requests for information about the characteristics of applicants rather than of the job advertisements themselves. Some of these key themes are covered in more detail below, and some will be revisited as development continues on the next and subsequent publications in this series and the data source and our understanding of it develops. Although stated in the points to note section of the bulletin, there was considerable feedback on the issue that the figures provided understated the actual vacancies at the time. Whilst the move to the new advertised vacancy fte methodology has reduced this issue slightly, it still needs to be prominently highlighted in the publication and is an issue which requires further thought if the statistics are to be seen as truly meaningful. Additional notes have been added to the Introduction and Results sections of the bulletin, along with a footnote to accompany all tables to make this clear. Understanding more about this issue is a clear priority for the development of this statistical series. It is noted that there was also feedback regarding the apparent over counting of vacancies inherent in advertisement information, but at present this is thought to be a significantly smaller issue than with regards to undercounting. 13 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

14 Additionally, there were suggestions that the publication series be renamed to avoid confusion and risk of comparison to previous Vacancy Surveys and vacancy information from other countries (e.g. Scotland). Whilst it has not been possible to make this change prior to this publication, this is something that the HSCIC will work on with key stakeholders and aim to provide a more meaningful and accurate title for the series in good time for the next publication. This will include making it clearer that the data is more of a recruitment activity indicator than it is strictly numbers of actual vacancies. As summarised above the responses included a desire to see more information on a wide range of different topics, which includes: Medical and Dental data by specialty and grade; More detailed Nursing information by AfC band; More detailed information on roles and specialties, even down to sub-specialty level; Analysis down to organisation level data or at least data by different types of organisation (for example benchmark groups); Additionally, more information on different organisation types and specific roles, for example Public Health roles within Local Authorities, information about vacancies related to Independent Sector Healthcare Providers; Separate analysis of permanent and fixed-term advertisements, even a desire for information on the length of the fixed term appointments being advertised; Information on characteristics of applicants, not just adverts e.g. protected characteristics; Information on hard to fill vacancies, for example re-advertised vacancies; use of Recruitment and Retention Premiums; Jobs re-advertised at higher bands or with more favourable terms; average time to recruit to a post etc; Vacancy rates; That the graphing tool to be able to compare different regions by staff group; Information on seasonal effects on recruitment behaviour, which relate to the desire for more granular data provision in the time series; Of this data wish-list, some aspects are possible and will be investigated for the next publication, for example splitting the data by permanent and fixed term advert types. Others may be possible in due course, with further investigation and data quality work, such as consideration of grade information or analysis across organisation types. Other requests are unlikely to be achieved based upon the current data source alone, for example producing meaningful vacancy rates. In order to consider the full range of information users wish to see, it will be necessary to consider what can be extracted or collected from other sources. This relates both to issues such as attempts to create vacancy rates, but also to novel analysis suggested in the feedback such as considering issues related to joiner and leaver information in relation to the advertisements placed on NHS Jobs. Some of the most interesting feedback was with regards to definitions which are used, both within organisations themselves and by others looking at the data for secondary purposes. This covers not only the definition of a Vacancy and hence a Vacancy Rate, but also of other aspects of the process, for example with regards to time to recruit to an advert. Feedback received has made it clear that there can be wide variations depending upon where start and end points are placed, and this needs to be considered. Additionally, within concepts such as the time taken to recruit, there are a large number of issues which can alter the length of time taken not just the time to advertise the vacancy, but also issues once interviews have been completed. These include Occupational Health reports, the Disclosure and Baring Service process, gaining references, negotiating contracts and even 14 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

15 notice periods. All of these things can distort the time taken from a vacancy becoming active and an individual being appointed to the post. Proposed actions in response to the feedback This publication incorporates some changes in response to the feedback generated by the first publication, including the change in methodology towards providing information on advertised vacancy fte to try and provide a more meaningful set of figures. Additionally, the format of the tables has been updated so that they now all follow a common theme, with the HEE Regions as the column headings for all tables which should make cross comparison of different aspects of the analysis more straightforward. Some other updates to the processing have also been made to help improve the utility of the data, and such developments will continue along with attempts to influence the data quality of the source data. The workforce data quality roadshows which have been run throughout 2015/16 by the HSCIC, ESR Central Team and Health Education England have included content specifically related to NHS Jobs data quality, and this activity will be built upon in future linked to the development of this publication series. Given the limitations of the available data related to the wish lists as highlighted above, the HSCIC will continue to evaluate what can be achieved and where possible will expand the coverage of the analysis in the next publication though it will not be possible to incorporate all of the information requested, and some things may never be possible from an administrative data source. More consideration will be given to the request for more detailed information by grade, but as grade / salary information appears to be a free text field, there are data quality issues which need to be overcome, even more so when wanting to link to other information such as Occupation Code or Area of Work. Whilst there remain issues to be overcome with regards to the organisation information extracted from NHS Jobs which may make it difficult or undesirable to provide individual organisation level analysis of the data, it will certainly be possible to investigate providing a different break down of the data by organisation type. As highlighted above, not only is potential data quality an issue, but also understanding the complexity of what people actually want and ensuring that everyone is consistent in their understanding for example so many different ways of defining a Vacancy and therefore even more of a Vacancy Rate. The HSCIC will work with others to consider what definitions can be standardised with relation to healthcare recruitment information and report back as part of the next publication on developments to this important aspect of the feedback. Linked to ensuring consistency of definition, the HSCIC will also investigate what other sources of data are available (or potentially available) to enhance the information extracted from NHS Jobs. For example the vacancy aspect of the workforce Minimum Data Set, information for which is beginning to flow from some Independent Sector Healthcare Providers and also the two NHS Foundation Trusts which do not use ESR. This information could be supplemented by information directly extracted from ESR, or even by expanding direct data collection or tapping into the work of the various Recruitment Streamlining groups and the HSCIC will continue to investigate these data sources. Whilst this summary of the feedback received has not gone into detail regarding all of the individual elements of feedback received, consideration will be given to it all as part of the development of the next publication and a further update will be provided as part of that publication. 15 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

16 Further Feedback As can be seen in the summary of feedback to the initial publication provided above it is clear that a number of questions still need to be answered, and that further work remains to be done. Therefore we continue to seek the input of users to understand the potential of this data, its limitations and how it can be used to provide the information that users require. As before, feedback is particularly welcome on, but not limited to, the following topics: How the report can be improved, including covering what people would really like to know. Information about the reality of recruitment in the NHS and how NHS Jobs is used during recruitment. For example: Is it completed at every stage? How are adverts for multiple vacancies specified by users on NHS Jobs? Are all successful candidates recorded in NHS Jobs? Do you know of data quality, completeness or consistency issues with the information input to NHS Jobs upon which the statistics are based or are there elements you are confident are consistently more reliable? Tell other people about this work if they may find it useful. Feedback related to any of the suggested developments to ensure we are making the right changes. We appreciate that this is an unstructured framework for feedback but this is deliberate. We want user requirements to drive the development of these statistics and we rely on the experience of experts to understand the potential of data to fulfil user requirements. In simple terms we need to learn a lot before we can be confident that we are producing the best statistics possible. We anticipate that people may need to talk to us as part of this feedback process and welcome this: Please call Nick Armitage on or mail: n.armitage@hscic.gov.uk There is no formal response document, we will accept any written form of response we are sent. We always welcome feedback to our statistics, so there is no formal closing date for feedback, but to enable us to make full use of your responses in the next publication it would be appreciated if feedback could be sent by the 27 th May The responses will be collated and used as part of our development of the next publication in the series, due for publication in August Please send all feedback to: n.armitage@hscic.gov.uk 16 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.

17 Published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre Part of the Government Statistical Service Responsible Statistician Nick Armitage, Section Head ISBN This publication may be requested in large print or other formats. For further information Copyright 2016 Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved. This work remains the sole and exclusive property of the Health and Social Care Information Centre and may only be reproduced where there is explicit reference to the ownership of the Health and Social Care Information Centre. This work may be re-used by NHS and government organisations without permission. 17 Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved.