04.03.15
CQC spends £14m on temporary staff
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) spent £14.3m in nine months on employing 309 FTE temporary staff, including admin/clerical workers, the regulator has revealed.
The organisation’s Q3 2014-15 Corporate Performance report shows that most temporary staff worked in the Customer and Corporate Services directorate – 179 FTE positions at a cost of £5.549m. On average, this equates to £31,000 per position.
The two other directorates with the largest number of temporary staff were Change with 46 and Strategy & Intelligence (S&I) 57. Although there were fewer posts within these directorates the average pay was higher. In Change £3.518m was paid out, equating to £76,478 per employee and in S&I £3.026m was paid out, an average of £53,087 per post.
The report, presented at the CQC’s latest board meeting, says the CQC gained DH approval for required non-clerical workers for 2014-15, and the aim now is to reduce its reliance on temporary workers.
“This includes continuing our push on permanent recruitment, looking at fixed term contracts and the possibility of procuring the required work in as a service, where more economical,” said the CQC, adding: “FTE is expected to reduce through the final quarter of 2014-15 as action is taken to manage the volume of contingent labour.”
Reducing this cost remains a priority for CQC, and the Investment Committee will get regular updates and will be the point of sign-off for any new temporary staff.
In terms of inspector recruitment, the regulator says it is moving forward with “bespoke campaigns,” targeting the specific needs of different business areas.
CQC has a target of 300 new staff by April 2015 and a further 300 by the end of 2015. As of 10 February, 202 job offers had been made to new inspectors. The regulator said it currently has 62% inspector positions filled and 42% of inspector manager posts filled.
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