Policy News - 23 December 2019

The following policies have recently been ratified by the Trust’s Policy Committee.   Please take the time to review those which may be relevant to your role.  

Capability Policy

The purpose of the Capability Policy and Procedure is:

• To ensure the management of employee performance is conducted in a manner which is proactive, positive, supportive and helpful;
• To ensure the any capability or performance concerns are dealt with in a timely, fair and consistent manner;
• To improve an employee’s capability / performance to the expected standards;
• To encourage a combined approach between the individual and the manager.
• To ensure that a formal process will only be entered into if the preceding measures fail to bring about an improvement in performance.

The policy applies to all employees of the Trust except medical and dental staff.

Concerns about the competence of medical and dental staff must be addressed in accordance with the Department of Health’s “Maintaining High Professional Standards in the Modern NHS”, (February 2005 edition) and guidance published by the Practitioner Performance Advice Service [formerly National Clinical ssessment Service].  

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Disciplinary Policy and Procedure

The purpose of the Disciplinary Policy is:

• To ensure that, where disciplinary action is contemplated, staff are treated fairly and reasonably; 
• Not intended primarily as a means of imposing sanction and punishment but as a means of emphasising and encouraging the attainment of good standards of individual conduct.
• To ensure that all decision making that relates to the application of sanctions, the principles of plurality should be adopted. Decisions will never be made by one person alone and cases which have potentially serious consequences will be reviewed from multiple perspectives, inclusive of seeking professional opinions for those clinically registered posts. 
• To provide a framework within which managers can work with employees to maintain satisfactory standards of conduct and to ensure that all disciplinary matters are dealt with in a fair and consistent manner in order to provide optimum standards of care to patients and a safe working environment for colleagues.

The policy applies to all employees of the Trust. 
 
Any matters relating to the misconduct of medical and dental staff will be conducted in accordance with this policy, however, also in line with the Department of Health’s regulatory framework ‘Maintaining High Professional Standards in the Modern NHS’.   Any matters of a disciplinary nature relating to individuals employed by Lead Employer Trust (who are on placement within the Trust) will be subject to the relevant disciplinary procedures of the Lead Employer Trust.
 
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Data Protection, Confidentiality and Disclosure of Information Policy

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust holds and processes large amounts of personal information about its employees, patients, carers and other individuals for various reasons to ensure the effective provision of healthcare. The Trust is the Data Controller for the information that it handles.

As a Data Controller the Trust must meet its legal obligations and NHS requirements in how it handles personal data. These requirements are set out in the current UK Data Protection legislation, the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 and Data Protection Act 2018 and in the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit.

In order to minimise the risk of data breaches through the inappropriate handling of information, the Trust must establish rules and guidelines for its staff to follow. Implementation of this policy will ensure that the Trust can meet its obligations and ensure the protection of personal data.

The purpose of the Data Protection, Confidentiality & Disclosure of Information Policy is to provide direction to all individuals working for the Trust to ensure that they handle personal information legally, securely, effectively and efficiently so the Trust complies with its legislative responsibilities. The policy applies to all types of information within the Trust, including but not limited to; patient, client, service user, staff personal information and Trust confidential business information. It covers all aspects of handling information and includes both structured and unstructured record systems in any format that may be developed or purchased by the Trust.

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Recruitment and Placement of Volunteers Policy

The purpose of this policy is to provide assurance that the Trust has in place a robust system for the recruitment, retention and placement of volunteers, which ensures that the volunteer service:

• Is representative of the area it serves

• Is responsive to the needs of the patients and the local communities
• Is robust and accessible to all
• Offers the opportunity for people to share their life experience, gain experience in volunteering and learn new skills
• Is in line with national guidance
• Ensures volunteers are not used for job substitution or included in the essential staffing structure within the Trust.

The policy clarifies the roles and responsibilities in relation to Trust volunteers, and applies to all areas of the Trust who use of volunteers as part of the service they provide.  It does not cover unpaid or paid work experience placements/opportunities of any length, or apprenticeships, which is set out in the Trust’s Work Experience Policy.

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Employment Checks Policy

This policy describes the principles for undertaking employment checks to protect the health and safety of patients and staff and to ensure that South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust delivers high quality patient care.

The purpose of this policy is to set out the Trust’s arrangements for carrying out employment checks that comply with NHS Employers Employment Check Standards and to ensure that employment checks are completed fairly, consistently and promptly following best practice guidelines.
 
This policy applies to all employees of the Trust as well as to bank, agency workers, locum doctor, individuals who may work for the Trust via Honorary Arrangements, students, volunteers and Apprentices.
 
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Recruitment and Selection Policy
 
This policy sets out the criteria and procedures for fair, timely and cost effective recruitment of staff and takes account of current legislation relating to employment, equality and diversity, data protection, rehabilitation of offenders, safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and Department of Health and Social Care guidelines.
 
This policy defines the expected standards of good practice in recruitment and provides practical guidance to managers to ensure a consistent approach with regard to equality, diversity and inclusion.   This policy applies to the recruitment for all posts, regardless of whether they are permanent, fixed term or temporary.
 
Selection will always be a competitive process, except where staff are being redeployed for reasons of organisational change, health, disability or other similar circumstances, where consideration may be given to ‘slotting in’ in line with the Trust‘s Organisational Change and Pay Protection Policy.
 

The procedures outlined in this policy apply to the recruitment and selection of all staff except Consultant Medical and Dental staff.  Whilst the principles of this policy apply to Medical and Dental staff, specific recruitment procedures have been developed for these staff.   

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Locum Doctor and Other Agency Worker Policy

This policy is designed to ensure that there are robust and appropriate processes in place to support the appointment of locum doctors and agency workers within the Trust.  The purpose of this policy is to:

• Ensure that any risk to patient care and safety is minimised.
• Minimise the cost to the Trust of hiring locum doctors and agency workers.
• Provide a clear explanation of the Trust’s standards regarding the procedure for the appointment of locum doctors and agency workers.
• Strengthen the standards of appointment.
• Ensure compliance with best practice guidelines laid down by NHS Employment Checks Standards and employment legislation.

This policy applies to the appointment of all locum medical and dental staff and all agency workers.

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