Editorial - Summer 2007

>Welcome to the Summer 2007 edition of Calling Time. Firstly, thank you to everyone who attended the annual WTD 2009 conference back in April. What really struck us about the day was the interaction and the sharing of the learning that is coming out from across the service showing the different approaches to moving towards the 48 hour week.

From pilot work looking at 24:7, team working and multiorganisational approaches, to rota design and IT solutions, it is clear that trusts and other stakeholders are taking up the challenge of looking at new ways of service delivery for 2009 and are moving away from the idea that just employing more staff is the solution.

It shows how far we have come in just over 18 months since the first edition of Calling Time was published. The financial changes in the NHS, service reconfiguration and Modernising Medical Careers have all come into place and in many ways have put a greater focus on the directive. It is imperative that the 48 hour week is considered as part of all changes that are taking place in our hospitals and healthcare centres.

That's why we called the conference Transforming Care Delivery. We wanted the work around 2009 to be looking at how we deliver NHS services in new ways, with patient care and safety at the heart of compliance work - alongside the health and safety benefits for staff.

There are obviously still issues to be worked on, particularly around ensuring that training remains of the highest possible standard within a shorter working week, but the learning is showing that these can be addressed with creative thinking and communications and planning between all staff. We have just over two years until August 2009 and your planning needs to be in place so you can test possible solutions. The challenge can be met as our pilots are showing.

In this issue of Calling Time we are showcasing much of the learning from the conference and looking at solutions that can benefit your organisation and put new approaches in place. This links to the WTD pages at www.healthcareworkforce.nhs.uk/wtd where we have all the presentations, webcasts and feedback from the event.

Our aim at Skills for Health - Workforce Projects Team has always been to look at sharing solutions that can be adopted across all NHS organisations and I hope you find the learning useful.

Sue Dean, director,
Skills for Health - Workforce Projects Team
sue.dean@skillsforhealth.org.uk