HSSIB report – Temporary Staff: Involvement in Patient Safety Investigations

In September 2024, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), an independent arm’s length body of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), released its findings from an investigation titled Temporary Staff: Involvement in Patient Safety Investigations. As an employer of temporary staff, we recognise the importance of reviewing the HSSIB’s findings to ensure we not only meet but exceed their best practice guidelines.

Transparency is vital for us in how we recruit, train, and place temporary workers in often challenging environments. We take the HSSIB’s key findings seriously and are committed to ensuring our clients can trust us to place the right temporary workers, with the right skills, in the right settings when they are needed most.

We’ve taken three important findings and responded to them:

Finding 1: Speaking up about patient safety

Some temporary workers feel hesitant to raise concerns about patient safety due to fear of jeopardising future opportunities within the organisations they’re placed into. Additionally, staff from ethnic minority backgrounds encounter barriers that make it harder for them to speak up.

At Thornbury Nursing, we prioritise creating a culture where speaking up about patient safety is encouraged. During onboarding and throughout their tenure with us, workers are reminded of the importance of raising concerns. We have established robust whistleblowing procedures, and our office teams are trained to support and guide workers through this process.

Our commitment to a ‘speak up’ culture includes promoting the significance of reporting concerns and educating workers on the potential impact on patient safety when issues go unaddressed. Our incident and whistleblowing policies are readily accessible on our Compliance Portal for all workers. Additionally, we offer an Employee Assistance Program that provides independent support for those navigating the aftermath of reporting.

Finding 2: Clarity in workforce gaps

When temporary workers are needed to fill workforce gaps, these opportunities are often advertised with limited information about the required knowledge and skills, complicating the identification of qualified workers.

Before we accept shifts, we ensure all essential information is collected. If any details are missing, we will not permit our workers to book those shifts, prioritising their safety and the safety of patients. Our ethos is to place the right nurse in the right place at the right time, which requires us to only assign the most suitably skilled workers to areas where they have relevant experience.

Agency nursing can be challenging, and only 15% of applicants meet our stringent selection criteria. Through our innovative technology systems, clients can review the profiles of workers scheduled for their shifts in advance, ensuring they are confident that the worker is well-suited for the role. We provide a detailed checklist showcasing each worker’s skills and experience, reinforcing our commitment to transparency and high-quality patient care.

Finding 3: Appropriate redeployment

Temporary workers are often redeployed to various areas within an organisation to address fluctuating demands, sometimes without regard for the worker’s abilities or the implications for patient safety.

We ensure that our workers are only placed in settings where they possess the appropriate skills and experience to operate safely. Company policy mandates that if a worker is asked to change wards upon arrival or part way through a shift, they must contact us to verify the appropriateness of the move. If we assess any risk to the worker or patients, we will not authorise the relocation. Our workers are empowered to refuse assignments that fall outside their scope of practice, and we fully support them in such decisions.

While some agencies may not offer the same level of support and information, we believe in open communication about our practices. Our clients should have complete trust in our agency and the workers we place. Thornbury workers are often called upon in critical situations, making it essential for us to have robust measures in place to ensure patient safety in all our operations.

If you would like further information on our robust governance and quality procedures, click the button below to contact Kate Nicholson Florence, Quality Assurance Director.

Contact Kate