As organisations settle into doing business in a leaner, more efficient way we anticipate more roles becoming available for technical developers and architects as trusts seek to further improve business intelligence and clinical systems.

• Mergers and recruitment freezes fuelled significant growth in demand for interim staff, particularly within IT support roles.

• Ongoing integration and change across the organisation created demand for project managers, office relocation professionals and change consultants.

• As the 2014 deadline for hospitals to become foundation trusts approaches, many trusts continue to seek candidates with application process or clinical governance experience.

• Efficiency targets and cost saving measures will drive many projects in 2012. We predict continued requirements for procurement managers and supply chain professionals.

• Oversight and transparency of business critical data remain key to ensure efficiencies are made at every level. As trusts kick start business intelligence and clinical system projects we expect to see continued demand for project personnel to assist with implementation, combined with technical developers to further customise applications.

• To raise funds and remove unnecessary costs, land sales and lease negotiations by NHS estates will create interim vacancies for suitably experienced professionals such as facilities managers.

Overall we saw slight upwards movement in contract and permanent salaries growth year on year although these figures were dwarfed by the high drop (16% and 24%) we saw in overall permanent and contract vacancies last year.

We predict 2012 will being a renewed focus on efficiencies and business intelligence as the organisation seeks to make the best use of reduced budgets.

How do our predictions stack up against yours?

Tell us what you expect to see from an attraction, retention or talent management point of view in NHS during 2012 in the comment box below:

Office moves and integrations have led to IT support roles, whilst efforts to update internal systems to improve patient care and efficiency have led to increased demand for testers, application developers, .net developers, clinical coders and clinical system managers. With a continued focus on clinical governance we see an increase in the number of information analyst roles specifically managing performance and clinical data statistics.

With a keen eye on their finances to ensure stability in these uncertain times, Trusts are increasingly looking for cost accountants, financial analysts, financial accountants and business analysts.

Programmes continue to run and require business co-ordinators and support officers to manage the projects. A reliance on securing top talent for senior positions has led to openings for general managers and heads of corporate affairs.

In the wake of last years Comprehensive Spending Review the NHS is undergoing significant change. Secretary of State for Health the Rt Hon. Andrew Lansley CBE said: “We have always been clear that we are ready to accept any changes – substantial and significant – if they help us improve care for patients.” Part of the changes identified were a better mechanism to communicate efficiently, effectively and appropriately with staff, patients, partners and the media. This has inevitably led to some of the growth in communication roles within the NHS we are seeing today.

With such a distinct heritage and powerful potential it is no surprise than marketing and communications is a director level responsibility with communication directors sat on most boards. Typically a head of communications will oversee an internal and an external communications team, responsible for an array of communications from internal magazines and staff engagement to writing speeches for the CEO and briefing documents for MPs. In England there are well over 1000 people employed in NHS communication roles and many of these have managerial responsibilities.

As the NHS changes and evolves around us some previously independent teams are amalgamating to produce a “shared communications service” offering its prowess to several acute trusts, ambulance trusts, mental health trusts and strategic health authorities at once. This is aimed at helping alleviate strained budgets yet keeping specialist expertise available.

Even more so, new specialist roles are being created to supplement the traditional press, patient and stakeholder liaison focus of past communication departments. New roles focused entirely on engaging a trusts’ membership base and stakeholders sit comfortably alongside internal communication roles assisting the transition for many organisations to Foundation Trust status.

The perception of being open, accountable and transparent in all areas of a tax payer funded business is core to the beliefs of the NHS and supreme efforts are made to ensure these objectives are met.

We are seeing a strategic move away from junior level roles as greater emphasis is placed on the importance of communications and budgets are raised to attract and compensate highly skilled and experienced professionals. Whilst a journalism background is helpful it is not a prerequisite for many roles. Certainly the ability to communicate with everybody in the department at every level and showing a high level of personal integrity, strategic thinking and tact when dealing with sensitive situations greatly supports applications from those without a formal communications background.

High quality training and a culture of personal learning permeates throughout the NHS and communication roles are no different; professional development is positively encouraged. Many staff are studying towards the Communications Advertising & Marketing Education Foundation Ltd. (CAM), the Institute of Public Relations (IPR), the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) or the Association of Healthcare Communicators (AHC) qualifications and enjoy considerable support along the way from their peers and colleagues.

Although the actual role and career path will differ depending on the trust or SHA, communications professionals are highly regarded within the organisation and tend to progress to more senior responsibilities relatively quickly. Managers that aspire to oversee budgets, staff, planning, partner relationships and wider aspects of the NHS corporate identity tend to fair well coming from a communications background.

How do you see communications roles in the NHS evolving over the next 5 years? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.

With annual energy bills around £600m it’s easy to see where even minor savings could bring significant reductions toward the £20bn of efficiency savings tasked to the NHS by the government. Simple energy reducing steps such as turning lights off and frugal use of the central heating controls have a part to play, but the bigger picture of managing sustainability across all fleet, operational and commercial elements of a vast organisation is definitely a role for suitably experienced and qualified professionals.

To conclude however that sustainability is simply about helping the NHS save money is to miss the point entirely. As a respected institution, the nation often looks towards the NHS for guidance. In turbulent times the public sector can often foundation itself as both a thought leader and business changer providing backseat mentoring and a soothing presence for other businesses wary of the future.

Certainly all sustainability issues, like almost all commercial issues, commence with an in depth investigation into an organisation’s current status. From this current standing targets can be set and an action plan put into place that would often cross both your operational and commercial divide. Whilst transport, energy and estates are an obvious target for sustainability efficiencies to be made, the NHS is starting to look more closely at suppliers with ISO 14001 accreditations, environmentally friendly marketing initiatives and the benefits not only of recycling but upcycling.

With approximately 20% of all sustainability savings – not an insignificant amount by any measure – derived from behavioural change, the NHS is seeing the ability to make significant headway towards their targets simply by re-educating staff to coincide with the vast majority of savings coming from supplier, system and process changes.

A well thought out and implemented sustainability programme which includes research, energy reduction, supplier profiling, collaboration and non carbon waste reduction targets goes some way to establishing a programme. What determines success is having the right person managing it.

As a business we regularly speak with NHS trusts keen on discussing their sustainability requirements and we’re seeing a growing number of candidates from backgrounds such as civil engineering or energy keen to use their BREEAM or HESS experiences to best effect. As more NHS organisations embrace the business and cultural benefits of a comprehensive sustainability focus we anticipate many more roles becoming live next year, both to head up the strategy, but also within project management and administration support for the many projects a fully fledged programme will create. In particular we expect to see an increase in sustainability consultant and managers roles along with broader environmental consultant and product compliance associate roles.

Sustainability is, quite literally, here to stay. What initiatives are you seeing in your organisation and how has this impacted on your recrtuitment plans?

The Health and Social Care Bill proposes some of the most radical reforms in the history of the National Health Service, including handing over around 80 per cent of the £100bn NHS annual budget to GPs.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley launched the bill by describing it as an essential initiative, saying: “Modernising the NHS is a necessity, not an option – in order to meet rising need in the future we need to make changes.

“This legislation will deliver changes that will improve outcomes for patients and save the NHS £1.7 billion every year – money that will be reinvested into services for patients.”

The impact on healthcare recruitment is undeniable. All 152 of England’s primary care trusts (PCTs) will be axed alongside 10 strategic health authorities, leading to the predicted loss of 24,500 jobs.

However, Nick Clegg’s promise to “water down” the bill could lessen the blow. Speaking to Andrew Marr on the BBC, he said: “The current pause in the reforms is absolutely not just a pause for the sake of it. This is not a cosmetic exercise. There will be substantial, significant changes to the legislation.”

It remains to be seen what difference this will make to the prospective job losses at PCTs, but we’re keeping a keen, close eye on the situation as it develops.

With strategies clear organisations are looking to the interim market to help them achieve the change agendas. We have seen demand for change management and commissioning expertise for the Pathfinders as well as the requirement from business management and project support for those Trusts involved in the government’s initiative for Transforming Community Services.

Financial accountants, management accountants and credit controllers required

As year-end approaches, financial and management accountants are typically the most in demand type of accountant. The volume of work, in addition to pressing deadlines, is the most common reasons for hiring in additional resources.

With close of PCTs still a couple of years away, staff shortages following MARS programme result in demand for interims

PCT’s require interim commissioning and contract managers where skills gaps have been created by MARS, voluntary redundancy and people moving to the Acute Sector. This is predicted to increase as the rationalising of PCTs and workload pressures increase.

Growth in the number of FTs will generate opportunities for public and private sector candidates

In line with the Government’s challenge for hospitals to become FTs by April 2014, the market for candidates with experience of managing the FT application process, clinical governance, risk and financial modelling will expand over the next 18 months. Monitor (the industry regulator) is already running a 3 month backlog thanks to the work generated by the Transforming Community Services agenda and so their requirement for extra staff is likely to continue.

View all our current public sector jobs.

Many PCT staff will face redundancy, whilst others will be involved in supporting their GP Consortia once a structure has been formed. However, whilst the 1st and 2nd wave of GP pathfinders lead the way in planning their management structures, not all GPs share the same vision.

Many existing PCT staff will be TUPE’d into these positions; however, the Government has made it clear that the new structure is unlikely to include current PCT staff only. This of course paves the way for the recruitment of private sector workers who can inject their own commercial experience into proceedings, and goes hand-in-hand with the Government’s plans for a more competitively run and better performing NHS.

With the door to the NHS now open to private sector workers then, the way has been inadvertently paved for current PCT staff to diversify into more commercially driven roles.

In light of the knowledge that some roles will not exist in 2 years time, the task of motivating the current workforce is becoming increasingly difficult for PCT mangers — particularly so with the significant organisational and operational changes that must be made within that time.

In order to assuage the effects of this highly pressurised situation, managers must engage staff by maintaining clarity, whilst reassuring individuals of the importance of their roles. Facilitating difficult career conversations, allowing employees to voice their concerns, and being open about what staff can realistically expect and achieve is vital.

At a time when NHS budgets are being significantly squeezed and NHS managers have the arduous task of dramatically changing the way that the NHS operates, engaging the people that will make this happen has never been more important.

Badenoch & Clark’s recent study has found a number of important trends which are currently influencing internal culture across the public sector. In particular, over half of workers in the public sector who would consider moving into the private sector, think they lack the appropriate skills to do so. Moreover, half of public sector workers believed that the results of the spending review would have a negative effect on staff retention across the public sector, with 57% suggesting that they are likely to move on from their current job in the near future. Staff retention emerged as a particular issue within Central Government with two thirds (66%) stating that the spending review will have a negative effect on retention.

Lack of security and anxiety about the future of jobs is prevalent across the public sector. A quarter said that they were unsure what to expect over the next twelve months, demonstrating a huge loss of confidence across government departments. These results demonstrate that a cultural shift is taking place across the public sector – one which must be taken into account by managerial directives and strategy. The only sector which seems to feel untouched by recent announcements is the charities sector; reasoning for this may include the perceived ethical nature of the sector, and the onus upon private sector corporations to up their social responsibility strategies.

The public sector’s ability to attract – and retain – the brightest and best candidates is under threat. Over the last ten years the public sector has developed a reputation as the employer of choice for millions; the announcements of last week have been a huge blow to this reputation and to the public sector employer brand. It remains to be seen whether this might be recovered.

Are you a public sector worker facing the uncertainty of redundancy? Do you fear you lack the appropriate skills to compete for jobs in the private sector? Perhaps you work in the private sector and feel concerned about the imminent increase in competition for private sector jobs? Whatever you stance, we’d love to hear your views below.

Download the key findings report ‘public sector cuts: workplace worries’.

As Philips Green’s recent review of spending highlights, there is an urgent need for businesses of every size to have someone responsible for purchasing for the business. Without this centralised approach companies will continue to waste money by paying too much for the majority of what they buy.

As we start to feel the impact of the austerity measures companies need a coherent strategy. Diving in head first and focusing energies on reducing headcount and budgets is, in many cases, the wrong approach. For companies to come out of the recession, and have their feet firmly in place for the future, strategies need to be more long term than this and at its core is centralised purchasing to achieve economies of scales.

Across the NHS we have historically seen procurement hubs operate to save their organisations millions of pounds and despite having proved their worth are under threat of closure and the future of their skilled qualified procurement professions are at risk. So, it seems that perhaps procurement within the NHS is not immune to the deep cuts in public sector. With hubs potentially closing the continuation of their good work will potentially have to revert back to procurement departments who are already under pressure, challenged by lower than usual numbers of staff with increasingly heavy work loads. The contradiction of this has to be that a collaborative approach to procurement is supposed to aid the NHS in gaining better control over pricing, providing compliance with EU procurement directives and leveraging buying power, providing a platform to gain a better deal for the public’s purse. Not collaborating means individual NHS organisations will have less buying power which will drive prices up. To collaborate or not to collaborate? That is the question.

The need for procurement professionals has been further highlighted since the New Remedies Directive was introduced, making challenges to the OJEU process from bidding suppliers in a shrinking market easier, causing lengthy retendering exercises and in some cases the charging of hefty fines to those who get it wrong. Use of shared services and collaboration are firmly on the government’s agenda and the burden on procurement in the NHS is only going to get heavier so strategic workforce planning regarding this profession needs to be given the attention it deserves, whether there is a collaborative approach or not. Strong procurement and contract management skills are absolutely paramount in helping the NHS reach the savings targets they have set. So, despite the latest talk of redundancies there will continue to be an opportunity for good procurement professionals.