ABSTRACT

Healthcare Sector NHS

Consuela Thome
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Coursework - Essay 010;

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital

Resourcing the Organisation - RTO
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 2
Main body
1. Critically evaluate why organisations are increasing flexibility of
working patterns with emphasis on the advantages and disadvantages this
approach has on the selected organisation …………………………………….. 3
2. Critically discuss how flexible working can contribute to overall
organisational success. Provide two examples using the industries listed in task
1 ………………………………………………………………………………….
5
3. Provide examples of practice to enhance the credibility of your work
and demonstrate your depth of your understanding of the various aspects of
Human Resourcing. Support your answers with academic and professional
references or sources and statistical data where necessary
………………………………….. 6
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………….
10
Reference list ………………………………………………………………….
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INTRODUCTION
The Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital is located on the
Edgbaston University Campus and provides a variety of medical services to
women and children. It is a renowned centre for paediatric mental health care
and family planning services, with an international reputation in various sectors.
"Assessment or medical treatment for those detained under the 1983 Act, Care
of persons whose rights are restricted by the Mental Health Act, Diagnostic and
Screening Procedures," says the hospital's website. Supply Management, Eating
Disorders, and Learning Disabilities Blood and blood products, Mental
illnesses, Physical impairments, Sensory impairment, and Substance Abuse
Issues Surgical operations, Remote transportation, triage, and medical
assistance are all available. Illness, disease, or injury treatment Childminding
(0-18 years), Adult care for those under the age of 65, adult care for those above
the age of 65, Maternity and midwifery services, Family planning services,
Surgical procedures, Abortion (CQC, 2019).

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1. Critically evaluate why organisations are increasing flexibility of

working patterns with emphasis on the advantages and
disadvantages this approach has on the selected organisation.
The concept of flexible working is defined as an ingenious organisation that
adapts quickly to change to thrive. This includes the fact that both employees,
human resources and management must be involved, working in a team, to meet
the needs of the organisation. From old-time, jobs have been flexible, such as
full-time or part-time, or overtime, and now more recently they are working
from home, online, or office, or both (Taylor, 2018).
The critical development of the flexible working patent is that organisations
have always had this flexibility, to hire on a permanent or temporary basis, or to
allow employees the right to work overtime or to reduce jobs if costs fall. What
is newer in this field is managing this field, working from home, online or your
own office. The advantages of working from home are that you reduce your
transportation costs to work, or you may be sick but at the same time work from
bed, which if you were at work you had to call that you are sick and present a
medical certificate. The disadvantages are the fact that you no longer socialize
with people, you stay at home all the time, you become comfortable, even
sloppy, and even you can have trouble with the internet connection or bad sound
in the background which spoils the effectiveness of working from home.
A conclusive example of flexible working in Birmingham Women's and
Children's Hospital (NHS) jobs is that it offers part-time roles as well as part-
time, night, or weekend job-sharing opportunities. It can also help care for
children, nursery or after school clubs, as well as emergency care, or if you
study for a qualification while working, they are open and help you fulfil this
commitment. However, flexible working in the NHS is also a problem, as it can
inconvenience the rest of the colleges, not having enough staff, or it can
disappoint patients, as employees are overwhelmed by the situation. It,
therefore, does not maximize the opportunity to address the recruitment and
retention process of NHS staff.
It needs to enhance the balance between personal and professional life, and
access to flexible working hours could affect the retention of younger healthcare
workers, who have different expectations than senior healthcare professionals.
Another option is to keep older employees on longer rather than retiring them to
offset the staffing gap until they reach a balance. An additional choice is to cut

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agency staffing costs because the agency provides greater flexibility, such as a
better income and work-life balance, as well as more control over shifts and
hours. Another method may be to improve the gap and help women progress, as
there are better-paid men in the NHS than women, although 77% of employees
are women. Because of this, women must sacrifice themselves to maintain their
flexibility. Here you can review the attitude of the gender pay gap. The NHS
has decided to improve a flexible working, as it is aware that weekend or night
shifts were allocated unequally, and that only those in need had flexibility.
Thus, they made a roster more efficient and fairer, in which everyone could
enjoy free days equally or be able to exchange shifts between them (Campbell,
2018).
The concept of flexibility is a new approach, interesting in the field of
organisations since the pandemic began, and then companies had to think of
something that would allow them a more efficient and innovative approach due
to fluctuating demand. and due to competition in the market. However,
companies must find a balance between the needs of the organisation, such as
productivity, delivery deadlines, customer satisfaction, increasing market share
and innovation, and employee interests, such as learning and continuing
education, improving professional skills, career development, and a better
balance between professional and personal life.
From this point of view, flexibility in work is a complementary method in
which organisations can support the diversification of services offered,
increasing the quality of work, and adapting to customer requirements. What
does the organisation gain? Well, it earns better-trained employees, improved
production, higher costs, and human resources will evolve faster. What does the
employee earn? An employee earns a better job, develops his talent optimally
and can advance.
The advantages of flexible working at BWC NHS include a better balance
between the nurse's professional and personal lives thanks to the
implementation of a team-based rostering system. The purpose was to
accommodate work-life nurses' preferences, boost nurses' involvement in
rosters, and strengthen collective duties for roster creation. The presence of
nurses increased, the responsibilities of each were correctly shared, they
progressed in their careers, and they had the support of leaders and teams to
engage in significant work to make the difference of flexibility, achieving a
perfect balance between professional and private life, thanks to these
improvements (NHS Employers, 2020). Part-time employment allows
employees to work fewer hours, while remote employment allows employees to

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work from home. These can be beneficial to the organisation since they
eliminate delays and absences, boost productivity, and improve employee
morale by allowing them to be more involved in the organization's style. The
notion of workplace flexibility helps organisations optimise activities,
streamline work, increase the quality of results, and become more competitive
in a continuously changing market where adaptation is required to survive.
However, there are some disadvantages, since it appears that indirect sex
discrimination occurred when a flexible employment application was turned
down. The plaintiff was awarded £ 185,000 in damages at court. The lady, in
this case, was a nurse who was assigned to work weekends. Because she was
caring for children, the nurse was unable to do so. As a result, businesses must
consider not just flexible working hours, but also the incapacity to work flexible
hours due to childcare obligations. It must be determined whether women are
disadvantaged in any way. Consider all viable options for achieving goals
without hurting personnel. (Orton, 2021).
2. Critically discuss how flexible working can contribute to overall
organisational success. Provide two examples using the industries
listed in task 1.
Flexible working is incredibly successful from a critical standpoint when
it is tailored to serve employees and their requirements. New technology is
always welcome, and when used properly, it may help make work more
flexible. In the NHS, a solution must be established that considers the many
professions and their tasks, which must be equally shared and unique to each
specialisation.
In education, it is best to work flexibly. For example, you can work from
home in the private sector, but not in the NHS; work must be done in the office,
not online. You can call for a telephone consultation to disclose your concerns,
but you will not be able to address the problem this way.
By expanding an action plan for flexibility, flexible working can
contribute to overall organisational performance. They must define flexibility
and develop a clear image of it inside the NHS. Also, the NHS should create
flexible employment strategy roles and possibilities for each profession, work
position, and speciality. Finally, to encourage new organisational cultures to
lead and take the lead on flexible teamwork, build a flexible culture. Expanding
the number of part-time or job-sharing jobs at all levels of the school system, as
well as expanding the range of flexible employment opportunities in schools,
such as gender equality, which allows women to return to school teaching on a

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flexible basis, are all ways to increase flexible employment opportunities in

schools. By providing more flexible, part-time roles, schools may be able to
overcome some of their recruitment issues by gaining access to more competent
instructors. Those who work part-time do so for a shorter period than those who
work full-time. two or more persons do one job and divide the condensed hours
work full-time, but on fewer days in alternated hours in which the employee has
a different start, end, and break periods than other home employees (Gov.UK,
2017).
Workplace flexibility, for example, in a hospital, comprises arranging
work schedules based on employee capacities. Long or even double shifts can
exhaust employees and render them ineffective at work, so a uniform
distribution of working time during the week, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week,
with two days off, doubled by the implementation of flexible rules regarding the
concrete establishment of the daily work schedule, would be a significant step
forward in medicine. This technique can theoretically be adopted by
establishing a mutual agreement with each hospital employee via an
employment contract that describes the work schedule as well as the employees'
responsibilities in this context. The information must be adjusted to the
resources available to employees, such as e-mail, telephone, or textual display
on information panels, as well as special procedures to ensure that employees
pay attention to the information presented.
When flexibility is applied at work, job satisfaction, organisational
commitment, supervisor support, autonomy, and training all contribute to
balancing the productivity of variation. Employees must be properly qualified
for the job, more productive, and more adaptable to technological and
competitive changes.
Effective communication in the workplace, such as at a good example
hospital, is another example. Like doctors, teamwork is a notion that entails
people cooperating to attain a common organisational goal that is critical to
success. As a result, businesses must strive to continuously improve team
performance. They'll need to use information from the team's analysis, such as
successful treatment cases, to determine the gap between what the organisation
wants and what has been accomplished, as well as whether any substantial
disparities need to be addressed. Goals are almost usually fulfilled swiftly, and
skill is fully utilised in a favourable organisational climate where the team is
valued.
3. Provide examples of practice to enhance the credibility of your work
and demonstrate your depth of your understanding of the various

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aspects of Human Resourcing. Support your answers with academic

and professional references or sources and statistical data where
necessary.
To provide high-quality care, a hospital's human resource management
must be upgraded. A strong human resources strategy should be a primary
priority for hospital leaders. At the same time, the level of health worker
maintenance must be enhanced while recruiting quality workers. Because labour
recruitment and retention are critical in human resource management, the
human resources manager does not disregard them.
A hospital's greatest challenge is finding a competent, capable, and
motivated workforce. Hospitals require solid human resource development
strategies to provide quality and safe treatment to patients, which leads to higher
nurse well-being, more satisfaction, lower absenteeism, financial benefits, lower
expenses, and increased productivity. The more degrees you have, the more
experience you will obtain and the more key competencies you will develop.
Managers must allow employees to incorporate in their job descriptions a
professional conduct role, as well as education, experience, and training.
Nurses' performance is reviewed at the same time, and they are required
to review medical staff accreditation and attend monthly courses to renew and
develop their knowledge, all to appropriately attract and retain medical people.
If specific specialities are not available in hospitals, for example, this can stifle
the ability to provide high-quality care in that area because current personnel are
unable to fill these roles. As a result, the hospital's ability to deliver that service
may be impeded by the lack of a suitable platform in a suitable location,
particularly if it is not accredited by the hospital. Simultaneously, the lack of a
performance review system may impede the performance of hospital
employees, particularly key personnel. A shortage of hospital staff, poor client
satisfaction, and competition with other hospitals are among the other human
resource concerns. True, some hospitals use the course credits acquired by
medical staff to assist them to grow in their jobs.
Medical staff are typically motivated by monetary incentives, such as
providing a free meal to all employees, free protective equipment, and
protective food for employees in workplaces with difficult and hazardous
conditions, such as sections with radioactive sources for cancer patients, and
lowering the cost of transportation for staff to and from work. All of this is done
to keep hospital staff on the job. Retention tactics can stem from an assessment
of existing issues, the enhancement of the working environment, the provision
of necessary supplies and equipment, the communication of relevant

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specialisations to their higher degree institutions, and the continued training of

hospital employees. because science advances at a dizzying pace, but also the
cross-functional preparedness for filling vacancies, beginning with internal
promotions, and then bringing in outsiders.
In hospitals, non-monetary incentives are given those assist employees to
advance in their careers if they have completed a course or college. Employee
retention is aided by financial incentives such as the thirteenth salary, meal
vouchers, and Christmas gift certificates. Financial incentives, despite their
attraction, have a limited impact on employee motivation, which is connected to
individual performance, unless they are supported with better working
conditions.
Recruitment at Birmingham Women`s and Children`s Hospital is a
process and has possible time intervals if a candidate chooses to start his career
at this hospital. The first step, when the hospital hires, publishes the
announcement on the NHS job site, where you must fill in personal data, answer
questions and say why the job suits you and apply online. Then, if the person is
selected, because is suitable for the job, the interview follows, in which two
interviewers and the interviewee participate and the previous experience and the
abilities they have discussed. The third step is to check the candidate's history,
occupational health check, DBS, previous references, if he has the necessary
qualification and the right to work, the right to live in the UK, all these checks
can take up to six weeks. The final step is to complete the contract and explain
to the employee how things work in the hospital, doing the induction
(Bwc.NHS.uk, 2021).
Education and training at Birmingham Women`s and Children`s Hospital
developed the highest quality workforce, which makes the courses help train
NHS health professionals. The hospital aims to develop, target, and learn the
skills of the entire staff working there, throughout the collaboration with them.
The hospital is always looking for ways to improve the services it offers as well
as new first-class discoveries that patients and their caregivers can receive.
Through these courses, the hospital improves communication, increases
education and learning opportunities continuously. For example, this hospital
offers postgraduate and postgraduate medical education courses in obstetrics
and gynaecology, which includes hosting the Postgraduate School of Obstetrics
and Gynaecology (Bwc.NHS.uk, 2021).
In the education sector, however, such as at Cambridge University, work
flexibility includes the opportunity to work from home. As a result, they can
increase profit, employee retention, and quality and productivity. When working

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from home, you must examine your practices, work environment, health, safety,
and insurance. Employees must meet certain criteria to be satisfied when
assessing workplace dangers.
The advantages are that they can establish job tasks at their convenience,
maintain good working relationships with colleagues, managers, or students
online, develop networks of contact, telephone, and e-mail, and they can stay at
home in their comfort rather than paying for transportation to the university.
This technique demands the university's undivided attention, dedication, and
labour. Teachers can also work from home without direct supervision and
manage their time well to better serve their pupils.
However, there are disadvantages, such as the burden of additional costs,
such as purchasing a laptop and ensuring a good internet network, which can
harm the ability to meet customer requirements, the inability to reorganise work
among existing staff, the inability to recruit additional staff, which may harm
quality or performance due to technology, which may affect work during
periods when the employee intends to work, and which may occur plan
disruption. The same efforts must be made to apply the same criteria as
planning, workload monitoring, performance appraisal, involvement in the
appraisal, and training as if they were in the institution (Attridge, 2021).
Another flexible working scheme used at Cambridge University is
flexitime. The scheme's goal is to help employees better balance their work and
personal responsibilities while also improving department workflow
management. This flexible timetable is recommended for determining whether a
revised timetable is better appropriate for implementation or whether the
flexible timetable will not work at their institution or for a particular group of
employees. Flexible time allows employees to pick when they want to start and
stop working, within agreed-upon boundaries and can be scheduled to allow
people to take on domestic or other chores. Employees may be compelled to
work during key periods (known as base hours), which could include specific
hours of the day and/or specific seasons. Employees must work a set number of
hours throughout a four-week "accounting period." Employees may request
permission to use their accrued flexible time to be absent from work outside of
normal working hours. Employees can adjust their start, end, and lunch hours as
needed. Employees may carry over any excess or debit from the number of
hours they must work in the next accounting period, within the agreed-upon
limits and with the prior approval of their departments (Attridge, 2021).

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CONCLUSION

Finally, companies in the health and education sectors, such as

Birmingham and Children's Hospital, and Cambridge University, are using
flexible working to boost profits, retain employees, and improve quality and
efficiency. Both have the same goal in mind: to improve their services for the
benefit of their clients. Flexible working helps an organization's overall
performance through recruiting and retention, assessment, simulation,
education, and training, as well as remote and flexi-time choices, according to
this study. Most studies have shown that flexible working boosts productivity in
a different setting.

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REFERENCE LIST
 Attridge, D. (2021). Model flexi-time scheme. [online]
www.hr.admin.cam.ac.uk. Available at:
https://www.hr.admin.cam.ac.uk/policies-procedures/flexible-working/
model-flexi-time-scheme [Accessed 2 Nov. 2021].
 Birmingham Women`s and Children`s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
(2021). Education and training. [online] Birmingham Women’s and
Children’s. Available at: https://bwc.nhs.uk/education-and-training/
[Accessed 27 Oct. 2021].
 Birmingham Women`s and Children`s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
(2021a). Education Resource Centre courses. [online] Birmingham
Women’s and Children’s. Available at: https://bwc.nhs.uk/education-
resource-centre-courses [Accessed 27 Oct. 2021].
 Birmingham Women`s and Children`s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
(2021). The recruitment journey/ [online] Birmingham Women’s and
Children’s. Available at: https://bwc.nhs.uk/the-recruitment-journey/
[Accessed 27 Oct. 2021].
 Campbell, C. (2018). FLEXIBLE WORKING IN THE NHS: THE CASE
FOR ACTION. [online] Available at: https://timewise.co.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2018/07/Flexible-working-in-the-NHS-the-case-for-
action.pdf [Accessed 8 Oct. 2021].
 CQC (2019). Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation
Trust. [online] www.cqc.org.uk. Available at:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/provider/RQ3/services [Accessed 1 Nov. 2021].
 Gov.UK (2017). Increasing flexible working opportunities in schools.
[online] GOV.UK. Available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/increasing-flexible-
working-in-schools/increasing-flexible-working-opportunities-in-schools
[Accessed 8 Oct. 2021].

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 NHS Employers (2020). Improving nurses’ work-life balance | NHS

Employers. [online] www.nhsemployers.org. Available at:
https://www.nhsemployers.org/case-studies/improving-nurses-work-life-
balance [Accessed 1 Nov. 2021].
 Orton, P. (2021). Flexible working and indirect discrimination: The
pitfalls and costs of getting it wrong | Harrison Clark Rickerbys. [online]
www.hcrlaw.com. Available at: https://www.hcrlaw.com/blog/flexible-
working-and-indirect-discrimination-the-pitfalls-and-costs-of-getting-it-
wrong/ [Accessed 1 Nov. 2021].
 Taylor, S. (2018). Resourcing and Talent Management (EPUB 3). 7th ed.
https://sites.google.com/poxad.lovestoblog.com/anegaktau23/pdfepub-
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kindle: CIPD Kogan Page, p.45.

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