Does anyone have experience/recommendation with regard to utilising agency staff or a 3rd party service provider with a view to carrying out a batch of planned maintenance on general medical electronic equipment.

Alternatively is anyone out there keen to come down to sunny Chichester and carry out the above for upto a month in the very near future?

Agency biomed techs are all excellent blokes and always come fully recommended! Properly briefed, they are very useful for one-off tasks of the type mentioned. What you should home in on is the hourly rate you will have to pay for their services. I assume you are in touch with all the well-known agents? I wouldn’t mind “wintering” in Chichester myself, but six-months or so is the usual period needed to make it all worthwhile, for all parties concerned (ie, it takes a few weeks for a guy to become au-fait, and a few more weeks for him to recover his re-location expenses).

Thanks Geoff, I'm aware of Capital & Durbin but just wanted to broaden it a bit or ideally get someone direct! I am however interested in a 3rd party service provider if anyone has experience of the like.

So what’s the perceived wisdom regarding the current crisis facing the NHS, I wonder? The forum appears uncharacteristically quiet about all this. The current mood seems to be very anti-agency staff. I’ve heard a whisper that there’s a moratorium on hiring agency people, regardless of whether there’s work piling up.

Hunkering-down, then, chaps? Or will permanent NHS biomeds be bucking-up a bit now that the fear of redundancy hangs over them? Is it the end of the road, then, for the agency engineer working in the Health Service?

Or, can we expect new opportunities once the “new drive for efficiency” kicks-in? After all, the kit is still there being used. And someone still has to fix it. Hope all you NHS guys have a nice Easter break. Take a rest – you need it. It all starts in earnest when you come back to work next week!

I suppose all us NHS Biomeds who need our ideas bucking up could always bugger off to the 3rd world for a bit of "Ex-Patting"
After all the only reason you do that is to benefit these impoverished countries, not work for high salaries-tax free, is it!

The hundreds, and potentially thousands, of people about to loose their jobs has more to do with financial mis-management and generally poor senior management.

Does the NHS have problems? - Yes
Are these staff losses due to instantaneous financial deficits? - No
How many organisations already gone public announcing staff reductions have also announced .." the board and Chief Exec have gone too.."? - none that I know of.
How many SHA's have shouldered some of the blame for allowing debts to build without acting sooner? - again none that I know of.

Is there a political agenda? - if there isn't it would be the first time the people at the sharp end aren't paying the price, you only have to look at the regionally adjusted budget figures to see where "politically apportioned" money goes.

Overlay the already announced areas of redundancies over a political map of the country to see if there isn't a political agenda.

I think, politically speaking, it's becoming increasingly difficult to justify employing itinerant workers, at a premium, when qualified Nurses and Clinicians, i.e. those in particular demand, are being made redundant along with others. In financial terms it's also an expensive way of employing fully qualified individuals since, I assume, a premium is paid to the recruitment agency and overheads are incurred in much the same way as for full-time qualified employees. Additonal to this many itinerants expect free board, lodgings and a telephone - or if not for free then at a significant discount to make it "worth their while".

try this

www.appletechnologies.co.uk

Hi tha_ans,

Neither of those jobs appear to be temporary agency work and one is for microbiology not medical engineering - not sure what your point is. Actually this last month or two (looking at Roevin, Capital, Durbin, NHS jobs, etc) I've seen a higher turnover of job adverts for fulltime employees, working in biomedical engineering in the NHS and private sector, than temporary agency work.

Maybe agency stuff is more word of mouth so there's not the need to advertise as much but from Geoff's comments I suspect there's been a bit of a downturn (or the pickings are not as rich). Capital recruitment have a requirement for all grades at the moment in Manchester. Das ist leben.

Hai Mr.R.J.Ling:

from the website, i understand they are third party service providers to NHS hospitals.

Ciao,

Probably - I wouldn't be surprised if they're continuing where others have failed to benefit.

Arrivederci.

Richard,

Capital also have a medical equipment engineering team to fulfill the very contracts you are discussing. All technicians have been put through their paces at the training centre and so are accredited techies in their own right. Coupled with specific device training direct from a range of manufacturers, they are led by an ex-MoD med and dent techie. Give me a call on 01299 250830 tgo discuss.

Which ones are that, then, Rob? The ones that involve “buggering off to the Third World for a bit of ex-patting” (sic)? Sad lot, aren’t they?

He is a little disgruntled Geoff, I have to agree....

There’s always work around, Richard, for those willing to actually work. Not sure that there have ever been any rich pickings, though. It’s the wrong game entirely for anything like that, I would have thought. Or perhaps you know something that I don’t (it’s a more “word of mouth” than I imagined, then)!

Hi Geoff,

My personal view is that it doesn't matter how good agency staff or NHS staff are, how hard they work, how well they're recommended, etc. What matters is demand for their services, relative cost compared to similarly qualified and experienced individuals, and increasingly, political agendas (again). My "wisdom" about the state of the NHS, for what it's worth, is that whilst we're all under the threat of redundancy, reasonably well-paid permanent jobs for experienced & appropriately qualified staff, to expand NHS services in-house, continue to be advertised nationally. I just don't see the same turnover in advertisements for agency staff working in EBME. Since I don't see a massive turnover of advertisements on the recruitment agency websites I can only assume it's word of mouth or the demand has dried up for agency work. Which is it do you think?

There have been more in-house EBME jobs advertised nationally in the NHS, for the Band 6 grade, with very similar job-requirements, since January 2006, than I saw in the previous 3-5 years, for MTO3/4 posts, I reckon. In any case, politically speaking, hiring of contractors or agency staff cannot be justified when NHS employees are being laid-off, in my opinion. Don't you think that the prospect of salary at the top of Band 6 is a reasonable expectation, financially speaking, for individuals employed on a permanent basis, with pension and other benefits, that are expected to be qualified to HNC/Degree, specialise in one area, work 9-5 weekdays, have 3-5 years relevant experience and not necessarily be expected to be supervising nor managing (and still, generally speaking, be cheaper to employ than agency staff at the same or lower level of qualifications and experience), Geoff?

I would say that, yes, there has been a slight dropping off in the demand for agency technicians. But there are still enough jobs about if you’re willing to move around, and swallow your pride and work for "reduced rates". The hourly rates on offer have been dropping to the levels they were at 15 years ago. The result of all this seems to be that some of the “old sweats” are calling it a day.

Don’t know much about the advertising of in-house positions within the NHS, but I expect you’re right as usual, Richard.

But we should be clear that agency and in-house techs are not in competition with each other. Be assured that agency work only becomes available at, shall we say, the more “demanding” locations. Locations where, for example, in-house staff cannot be retained for one reason of another. Or to clear a backlog of work, catch up with PM’s, cover for absences, some sort of specific task and the like. Never the really exciting stuff, believe me. Presently, there would seem to be many hospitals ready to take on a guy for a while, but they are having problems raising the necessary funds! No surprises there, then.

Hi Geoff,

It wasn't my intention to give the impression that I think agency staff are in competition with NHS staff. To my knowledge agency staff definitely come in handy and are always likely to be in demand but with the current climate in the NHS I can see less and less use of agency staff (unless they have very specialised skills) due to the fact that they're considered a more expensive option - especially if they're employed at premium rates to do routine tasks that can be done in-house by NHS staff at lower equivalent grades/rates.

Rob, Geof, Mr R.J,
Its not simply a matter of money being available to appoint. I truly believe there is a hidden agenda, strategically imposed to divert those on the ground from scoring, by distracting them with the topless streaker, hence taking their respective eyes off the ball!

Those at the upper scales of the board of directors couldn't give a toss about those technicians or support staff on the ground. If they (The NHS employed EBME techs) do not play ball, the management would simply get a cheaper, less obligated, and often foreign striker in, from one of those far off countries only too willing to sign on the dotted line to be employed at a substantially reduced rate.
In here the problem lies, In here the problem lies fellow proffesionals!

Romanian technicians are on their way to the UK soon, Mates. They're hard-working guys, with a hands-on approach. They still actually repair television sets in Romania, for example. You'll be seeing them soon at a bench near you, no doubt about it. Better watch out guys!

Dear Fellow professionals,
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with competetive labour, providing they can communicate effectively and complete the tasks in hand. An ability to get the job done.
The problem has been inherently undercutting, cuts in funding EBME departments and investing in staff recrutiment and retention. If they had managed to retain the exisiting, more experienced staff in the first place, then our NHS wouldn't be in such a mess,would it?

I'm seriously thinking about emigrating !

Yes, Chris … but where would you go, Mate? But, perhaps you’re still young enough to be snapped up in, for instance, Oz or New Zealand. If so, then my unreserved advice would have to be go for it!

Geoff,

Those hairz are-a-still-grey-urnin me ole chakka
Thems willa be callin me greybared nexx !

It’s all Greek to me, Mate. Try Hungarian Notation – I can usually work those out.

It's been a while since we heard from Chris (anyone know if he followed through on his emigration plans)?

Meanwhile, at this "slow news" time of year, how about an up-date on this thread?




...anyone?