At Sanctuary, we make light work of finding you just the right allied health role to make your experience a rewarding one. We listen to what you want and make it our top priority to find you a role that we know matches your skills, knowledge, experience and career aspirations.
We love to reward our allied health community. So, when you recommend a friend to us who goes on to complete 100 hours of work, we’ll send you £250 to say thank you!
My experience with Sanctuary has been incredibly positive. I was supported through compliance and gaining my first role at every step of the way by my consultant who has always kept in regular contact. If you're thinking of starting as a locum, or if you're already a locum who wants to move to a company and have a consultant who supports you consistently, I would wholeheartedly recommend Sanctuary.
Lisa
Community Rehab Physiotherapist
"It’s more than year I am with Sanctuary as locum physiotherapist. My consultant is highly effective and helped me in finding job whenever I have need. I am really happy working with Agency. Very professional and efficiently run. My consultant is always available at the end of the phone at any time and always happy to answer any queries and find me great jobs in great location."
Anshu
Physiotherapist
"My experience with Sanctuary has always been positive and I have worked as a Locum for a few years now. My consultant is professional, reliable, efficient and always recommended jobs appropriate for my skill set. I can't thank him and the team enough for their hard work over the years."
Paula
"I’m very satisfied with Sanctuary Personnel. My consultant is responsive and always willing to offer his help. He has resolved all the issues I had in the past on time. Very polite as well and his manners are second to none."
Panos
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NHS Workforce Plan promises to train, retain and reform
Record levels of recruitment, staff retention and new ways of working are all part of a new strategy to address existing healthcare vacancies and meet the challenges of a growing and ageing population. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan is the first ever comprehensive strategy to make staffing sustainable and improve patient care. The plan includes a commitment to deal with workforce shortages by recruiting record numbers of doctors, nurses, dentists and other healthcare staff. It was commissioned and endorsed by the government, which has promised over £2.4 billion over five years to pay for additional education and training places, over and above existing funding commitments. “On the 75th anniversary of our health service, this government is making the largest single expansion in NHS education and training in its history,” said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “This is a plan for investment and a plan for reform. In the coming years we will train twice the number of doctors and an extra 24,000 nurses a year, helping to cut waiting lists and improve patient care. And we will do more to retain our brilliant NHS staff and reform the way the health system works to ensure it is fit for the future.” Forward thinkingFor decades there has been an absence of strategic planning to ensure the NHS workforce is fit for purpose. This has limited the potential to make the most of the skills of those who work in frontline healthcare jobs. It has also hampered efforts to forecast future staffing needs and align them with financial planning so that recruitment levels are matched to demand. The new plan includes detailed modelling of NHS workforce demand and supply over a 15-year period, showing the resulting shortfall. It sets out the actions that will be taken in the coming years to address this shortfall in addition to, and building on, actions and investment already committed over the next two years. Supporting existing NHS staffAs well as the training and recruitment of new doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, there will also be a greater focus on supporting and retaining existing NHS staff. That means better opportunities for career development and improved flexible working options, as well as government reforms to the NHS pension scheme. Investment in new technology will also help to improve efficiency and free up staff to focus on using their skills and expertise in the most productive ways. This includes more funding for Artificial Intelligence (AI), with an expert group being set up to identify appropriate advanced technology which could make a real difference. “This is a truly historic day for the NHS in England,” commented NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard. “For 75 years, the extraordinary dedication, skill and compassion of NHS staff has been the backbone of the health service – and the publication of our first-ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan now gives us a once in a generation opportunity to put staffing on sustainable footing for the years to come.”
Three in four people with cancer survive for the first year after being diagnosed, with rates of survival for some cancers even higher. Published in April, NHS England’s one-year cancer survival index compares 2020 with 2005. The overall first-year survival rate has risen by 9% to 74.6%. The survival rate for breast cancer is around 97% and for bowel cancer it’s over 80%. “These figures are highly encouraging and support those released earlier this year which show improved survival rates across almost all types of cancer,” said Health Minister Helen Whately. “They are evidence of great strides being made by the NHS, scientists and our incredible cancer charities.” Earlier diagnosisDiagnosing cancer at an early stage is key to the improvement of survival rates and is at the heart of NHS England’s cancer strategy. As a result of high-profile ad campaigns and awareness drives, many more people are being tested for cancer. Almost 500,000 more patients were checked between March 2021 and October 2022, compared to the same period before the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost 550,000 more people were referred for cancer during this period, helping to reverse the drop in people being tested during the pandemic. In 2021-22, over 100,000 patients were diagnosed with cancer at stages one or two, when it’s much easier to treat. That’s the highest proportion ever. Since July 2021, 94 community diagnostic centres have opened across England, delivering 3.3 million checks, tests and scans. Nursing roles are vital in cancer careResearch shows that having good access to care from designated clinical nurse specialists could improve cancer patients’ chances of survival. A study published in the British Medical Journal in 2022 examined data from over 99,000 people diagnosed with colorectal, lung, breast or prostate cancer. Researchers concluded that there was strong evidence of the vital contribution that specialist nurses can make to cancer survival. As a result, they suggested that input and support from clinical nurse specialists should be available to all patients immediately after diagnosis. Involvement of allied health professionalsWith improved survival rates, many types of cancer are increasingly being seen as long-term conditions. This is resulting in more input in cancer care from allied health professionals such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and dietitians. They can provide personalised advice and support for patients to aid recovery and rehabilitation. They also provide a link with community, primary care, social care and other services. According to cancer support charity Macmillan, 30% of cancer patients have reported unmet needs after treatment for cancer which could benefit from rehabilitation services delivered by allied health professionals. The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) aims to collect data on all cases of cancer that occur in people living in England. Find out more here.
Strengthening the adult social care workforce is at the centre of the government’s social care reform plans for the next two years. In December 2021, the government published the People at the Heart of Care white paper, which sets out a 10-year vision for adult social care, backed by 2.1 billion of funding. Plans have now been announced for the £700 million of that funding which had previously not been allocated, with a strong focus on strengthening the social care workforce. To improve recognition of the skills and experience of people working in social care roles and support career development, plans include introduction of a new care workforce pathway for adult social care, a new Care Certificate qualification, a skills passport to provide a verifiable record of training and qualifications, and a range of new, funded training schemes. More support for local authoritiesTo help them improve access to care and support, local authorities will be given an additional £562 million in 2023-24 and £845 million in 2024-25 via the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund. This will enable them to increase their adult social care capacity and make tangible improvements to services. In addition, a programme will be launched this summer to support international recruitment for adult social care jobs. More support for social workersThe reform plans acknowledge the vital role that social workers play in assessing and supporting people with multiple complex needs, such as homelessness and mental ill health. That’s why it’s considered essential that social workers are equipped to support those who will most benefit from social work support. Alongside other initiatives, the government is committed to recruitment and retention of social workers through Think Ahead, a graduate fast-track programme to become a qualified social worker supporting people with mental health needs. Further support for social workers is being provided through the Education Support Grant and Social Work Bursary.Digital transformation£100 million has been earmarked to speed up digitisation in the social care sector. This includes investment in digital records, providing social care staff with fast, easy access to the latest information. This will also enable data to be shared securely and in real time with authorised professionals in the NHS, such as mental health nurses and occupational therapists. “Working in social care is such a varied, exciting and rewarding career, and I’m pleased that these reforms recognise the enormous potential in investing in the professional development of our highly skilled workforce,” commented Deborah Sturdy, Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care. “Along with technological advancements that will make the lives of care workers easier, this plan is an exciting continuation of the government’s commitment to reform social care.”
Innovative XR training for perinatal mental health
A ground-breaking extended reality (XR) training programme for perinatal mental health gives trainee nurses and other health professionals an immersive simulated experience.
Developed by Health Education England (HEE) in partnership with Fracture Reality, the training programme features a patient avatar called Stacey. Using an XR headset, learners interact with Stacey, who is directed by an instructor and run as a simulation on Fracture Reality’s JoinXR platform. Learners have realistic and natural conversations with her, enabling them to ask her about symptoms and make a diagnosis, as well as taking decisions about putting in place appropriate care and support.
The programme is designed to allow student nurses, doctors and other health professionals to practice their skills in a safe environment, preparing them to transfer those skills to a real-life clinical setting when they progress to mental health nursing jobs and other healthcare roles.
“Stacey provides students and learners with a wealth of scenarios that they may encounter while they are working in a clinical setting, all in a realistic and natural way,” said Rebecca Burgess-Dawson, HEE’s National Clinical Lead for Mental Health.
Thorough evaluation
The programme has been evaluated by the Centre for Immersive Technologies at the University of Leeds. Over 100 people took part in the evaluation, including GP and mental health nurse trainees, as well as trainee doctors and clinical psychologists. Results showed that this immersive method of training is very engaging and useful for both learners and educators, with participants showing significant improvements in cognitive and emotional understanding.
GPs in training reported a reduction in anxiety relating to perinatal mental health consultations. Mental health nursing students showed increased motivation and were more inclined to pursue a career in specialist perinatal mental health nursing.
What is a perinatal mental health service?
Perinatal mental health teams offer help with mental health issues for any woman who is planning a pregnancy, already pregnant or who has a baby up to one year old. According to the NHS website, perinatal mental illness affects up to 27% of new and expectant mums.
The teams give advice about the risk of developing a mental health problem in pregnancy or the postnatal period and how to reduce this risk, as well as providing information on the pros and cons of using medication during pregnancy and breastfeeding. A range of other services offered by the teams include talking therapies, support and advice on building a positive mother-baby relationship, and referral to other services such as charities, which offer practical support for families.
Who is in a perinatal mental health team?
Perinatal mental health teams usually comprise a perinatal psychiatrist, a specialist perinatal mental health nurse and a psychologist to provide talking therapies. Some services may have other professionals as part of the team, such as occupational therapists and nursery nurses. Perinatal mental health teams also work closely with midwives, health visitors, adult mental health teams, obstetricians and GPs.
In March over 100,000 patients had been treated in virtual wards in the previous year, significantly reducing pressure on the availability of hospital beds.
There are now over 340 virtual ward programmes across England, providing a total of 7,653 virtual beds. In January, as part of its NHS Delivery Plan for Recovering Emergency Care Services, the NHS committed to further expanding the number of virtual wards to provide over 10,000 virtual beds in total by this autumn, with an ambition to enable healthcare staff to care for up to 50,000 patients a month in the longer term.
What is a virtual ward?
Enabled by technology, virtual wards provide hospital-level care from nurses and doctors, including diagnostics and treatment, while allowing patients to remain in the comfort of their own homes. In some cases, virtual wards can replace the need for patients to be admitted to hospital. In other cases, they can make it possible for patients to safely leave hospital sooner.
How are virtual wards staffed?
Patients on virtual wards are cared for by a multi-disciplinary team, including doctors and nurses. Patients are reviewed daily by the clinical team and the ‘ward round’ may take place through video technology or involve a home visit by a community nurse. Many virtual ward nursing staff use technology such as apps, wearables and other medical devices to enable them to easily check and monitor a patient’s care and recovery.
How will virtual wards change nursing roles?
Some nursing jobs will inevitably be transformed by the greater use of virtual wards. Reducing the need for regular face-to-face contact with patients can reduce the risk of infection for both patients and nurses. Virtual wards can reduce pressure on healthcare staff and free up hospital beds, but still enable effective monitoring of patients, so that clinical decisions can be made quickly and appropriately.
£200 million of funding was made available in 2022-23 to support the development of virtual wards, with a further £250 million available on a match-funding basis for 2023-24. It’s expected that most of the funding allocation will be spent on workforce pay costs to fund the staffing models required for virtual wards. Therefore, opportunities for virtual ward nursing jobs are likely to increase significantly. Virtual wards create a bridge between community and hospital care. Therefore, the skills and experience of both hospital and community nurses are relevant to virtual ward jobs.
“The advantages of virtual wards for both staff and patients have been a real game-changer for the way hospital care is delivered,” said Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS National Medical Director. “With up to a fifth of emergency hospital admissions estimated to be avoided through better supporting vulnerable patients at home and in the community, these world leading programmes are making a real difference not just to the people they directly benefit but also in reducing pressure on wider services.”
As a recruitment agency, we never lose sight of one of our core values, which is to place people first. We may be a recruiter but we’re also a compassionate and dutiful employer. We understand that caring for vulnerable people is not without its pressures and its impact on staff wellbeing. That’s why, in 2016, we took the decision to appoint Clinical Safeguarding Lead, Junaid Dowool. As a highly-skilled Clinical Senior Manager and Forensic Mental Health Nurse, Junaid has created a clinical governance pathway that we’re exceptionally proud of. One that supports our candidate community in navigating challenging work and personal issues so that they are safe to practise. We thought we’d catch up with Junaid to find out more about his role and why it’s so important. Junaid, could you summarise the service that you offer?“My role is to make sure that the professionals we place deliver excellent care to patients and clients. This is not just part of our clinical governance commitment as a framework provider and health and social care employer, we provide this level of support and guidance because we care. “Our support ranges from listening to someone who has had a really tough day at work to providing clinical support to those who’ve experienced a trauma or death in service. Our focus is on making sure that these things do not impact an individual’s practice and that they can access the right support at the right time. We do not only value our workforce CPD (Continuous Professional Development) but also their wellbeing in doing their role effective and safely.”Could you walk us through the clinical support provided?“Our support to candidates starts at their clinical interview before being placed. Either myself or another clinician assesses whether a person is right for a role and that there are no clinical reasons why they should not take the position. “Once in post, we’ll follow up with the candidate at either the six or nine-month mark (depending on the framework they are appointed through) where a clinical appraisal (a performance development review) is undertaken. This is not just a tick-box exercise. We make the time to fully understand how the person is feeling within their role - professionally, mentally and physically - and explore their future objectives in their ongoing development. For example, we may chat about their career goals and where they want to be in three to five years, which can prompt a move into a new post if they’re ready. “We also deliver informal and formal supervision to support staff wellbeing, which can be extended to become more regular if a candidate is struggling with their mental health or needs help processing and recovering from a traumatic event. “We do not just signpost candidates to services. We deliver most of the mental health and wellbeing support ourselves. We put clinical personalised care plans in place that cover a wide range of therapies tailored to the individual’s needs. Our aim is to help the person get to a place where they are happy and safe to practise.” How do you make candidates feel valued?“Our involvement is not all about supporting candidates through challenging times. It’s about helping them to grow in confidence and develop their careers. “We even go as far as to support nurses and other health and social care professionals through the revalidation process, which can be quite a relief. “Recognising when a candidate has gone above and beyond or had an excellent performance review is also something that’s important. It’s not unusual for us to send chocolates or flowers to say congratulations. Likewise, I’ll also put candidates forward for certain training if I think that it will benefit them and their practice. We promote a reflective and learning approach to review incidents.”What support do you offer Sanctuary’s recruitment consultants?“One of the first things I do when a new recruitment consultant joins Sanctuary is to train them on what it’s like in the day of a working life as a nurse, social worker and so forth. I explain what it feels like to have that amount of clinical responsibility and what a typical day looks like. “This helps them to understand why candidates may sometimes feel frustrated and to always approach matters with compassion, which makes them even better at their job. At Christmas time, for example, I ask consultants to let me know if anyone they know could benefit from support, and I reach out to them. “Of course, wellbeing support is extended to all of Sanctuary’s staff. After all, it’s important that we take good care of ourselves and exercise the same levels of care to one another that we do to our health and social care community.” How do you manage complaints?“Thankfully, complaints do not happen very often, but when they do, we have a clear process in place for handling them. “As the Clinical Safeguarding Lead, my role is to seek to understand and not to judge as I am there to reduce clinical risk and look after the wellbeing of the candidate. A client may, for example, call Sanctuary to complain about a member of staff being late to work several times. The first thing I do is speak to the person concerned and explore whether anything is going on within their life, either at work or home, that could make them late. If there is, we talk through the challenges they are experiencing and possible solutions, and then I report back to the client. We also explore the clinical risks associated with such concerns and the impact on the service. “In this situation, the candidate feels supported and understood and the client is reassured that Sanctuary is resolving the problem. “If a situation with a candidate is considered a serious incident, we have a specific procedure we follow that’s in line with framework and professional body guidance. Again, we’ll always approach a situation without personal judgment. “If there are clinical concerns about a particular candidate, which is rare, we’ll never just move them on to a new position in another setting. Part of our clinical responsibility is ensuring we are accountable for the people we place. We place emphasis on patients'/service users' safety and the continuity of safe care.”
Reach out to us today, and we’ll introduce you to a dedicated allied health recruitment consultant who’ll make it their goal to find you exciting new job opportunities.
