Bids invited for team working pilots

Funding available for 10 pilots on team working, handover and escalation.

To help support 2009 compliance Skills for Health - Workforce Projects Team are opening up a new set of pilots to NHS organisations. The pilots will explore new ways of team working, handover and escalation to reduce the intensity of doctors’ workload and extend the scope of work carried out by other staff.

This is the second tranche of WTD 2009 pilots. The Workforce Projects Team are looking for around 10 pilots and funding will be in the region of £100k per site. Dissemination of lessons learnt from the pilots will be a key part of the work.

Sue Dean, associate director of the Workforce Projects Team cited examples of what will be looked for in these new pilots, “The Hospital at Night project has proved that it is possible to deliver compliance with WTD, improve training out-of-hours and increase doctors’ quality of working life alongside improving patient care. The team working pilots will build on this success and explore new ways of cross-boundary, multi-disciplinary team working.”

Further information and the specification is available on the healthcare workforce portal – www.healthcareworkforce.nhs.uk For enquiries, please contact claire.blankley@skillsforhealth.org.uk Bids need to be submitted by 28th April.

Key information – an overview of WTD 2009

Background – what is the Working Time Directive?
The European Working Time Directive (EWTD) is mandatory European health and safety legislation designed to protect all workers. It lays down minimum requirements in relation to working hours, rest periods, annual leave and working arrangements for all staff. In August 2004 it extended to apply to doctors in training for the first time. Junior medical staff have traditionally worked long hours and provided out of hours medical cover. In 2004 working hours were cut to a maximum of 58 hours a week with entitlements to daily and weekly rest breaks.

The next step – Working Time Directive 2009
The next stage of the process is WTD 2009. Hours will be cut further to a maximum of 48 a week – a near 20 percent reduction in junior medical hours. It is both a challenge and an opportunity for the NHS to further modernise its services.

The impact for the NHS
WTD is important as it impacts on all parts of the NHS. Reducing hours of junior doctors provides opportunities for other staff and will lead to new ways of working to provide the care that patients need. As it is mandatory legislation, all NHS organisations must meet the requirement – and that means that planning for overall service delivery in the future must account for WTD and the changes that it will lead to.

The role of the Workforce Projects Team
The Workforce Projects Team has been appointed as lead organisation for supporting the NHS and enabling solutions for WTD 2009. The Workforce Projects Team are bringing together advice and guidance and practical advice for trusts to support their WTD 2009 work. These include piloting new ways of working in the service and disseminating best practice.

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