Rules that may allow new mothers to take more annual leave before returning to work could cost councils millions of pounds, employment experts have warned. Planned changes mean that women in professions such as teaching may be entitled to an extra two months off after taking a year's maternity leave.

The plan has led council body Cosla to write to local authorities warning them about the implications of the issue. The warning follows recent rulings in the European court and House of Lords.

Employment law specialist Lindsay Cartwright from Morton Fraser said: "Potentially, for teachers, they would be entitled to take their annual leave at the end of their maternity leave even although school is in at that point in time, whereas teachers normally have to take their leave during school holidays.

"And because teachers get more than 60 days leave in a year that could be quite expensive for councils to implement."

Trade Unions

In a letter sent by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) to the directors of finance at each of Scotland's councils, the organisation said: "Teachers' annual leave entitlement is the balance of days beyond the working year and amounts to 66. Teachers who have been on maternity leave for an entire year will therefore be entitled to 66 days paid leave on their return."

The organisation told BBC Scotland: "Cosla is currently in discussions with its partners, including the relevant trade unions within the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, to ensure that the conditions of service comply with the regulations."

Glasgow City Council alone has warned the issue could cost them up to £2m a year. Women in the UK are currently entitled to a year off, with the first six weeks on 90% pay, followed by 33 weeks on Statutory Maternity Pay. The remainder is unpaid.

Copyright BBC Health News – Monday 12^th April 2010

Source - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8614927.stm

Student applications for nursing degrees have leapt 73.7 per cent, the Universities & Colleges Admissions Service has announced.

As of 22 January 2010, the UCAS said it had received 94, 644 nursing course applications, compared to 54,475 in 2009. Overall it said applications for degrees of any type had risen 22.9 per cent to 570,556 from 106,389 in 2009. UCAS notes that the increase in nurse degree applications may be related to the news that the nursing diploma is being phased out between September 2011 and early 2013, as nursing heads towards becoming a graduate-only entry profession.

Royal College of Nursing chief executive and general secretary Peter Carter said: “It is very encouraging that so many people of all ages are choosing a career in nursing, and that they are pursuing the graduate route into the profession. “Due to increasing demands on the health service, nursing care in the future will only become more valuable, and at the same time more complex. We need to ensure that there is a good supply of well trained, caring people going into nursing.

He added: “The recent change to make the profession all graduate is clearly making an impact, and we are encouraged to see that aspiring nurses are embracing the additional skills and experience which degree courses can offer. “We also need to ensure that an adequate number of places are available for people with the skills and the commitment to study nursing. We need to ensure that students have the right financial support and the right pastoral care to ensure that they continue their studies and become excellent nurses.”

Copyright Nursing Times Friday 12th February 2010 15:53

Source: http://www.nursingtimes.net/whats-new-in-nursing/students/surge-in-nursing-students-opting-for-degrees/5011405.article

Any announcement on the future of the default retirement age (DRA) will not be made until the summer, the government has said.

Speaking at an Employers Forum on Age (EFA) conference in London yesterday (10 February), employment relations minister Lord Young said an analysis of evidence the government had received as part of its review of the DRA is under way. "We will look at the weight of evidence and make a decision in the summer, alongside publishing a survey of employers' policies and practice with respect to age," he said. A consultation will then be held on the proposals with any changes coming into force in 2011, he added.

But David Yeandle, head of employment policy at manufacturers' organisation the EEF, said he feared any decision would be hijacked by ministers ahead of the general election. "It would be difficult for the government not to say what its plans are [on the DRA] when the other parties have made it clear," he said. "There will be political mileage in making an earlier decision."

The conference heard from several organisations that no longer use a fixed retirement age, including Nationwide, JD Wetherspoon and McDonald's.

EFA chief executive Denise Keating said: "Ultimately, a fixed retirement age is fundamentally discriminatory, as age is not an indication of capability. A change to the rules is inevitable, and needs to happen as soon as possible."

Copyright Personnel Today, Friday 12th February 2010 15:48

Source: http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/02/11/54088/retirement-age-decision-not-due-until-summer-warns-lord.html

Renewed efforts to cut the use of agency nurses are being hampered by problems recruiting permanent staff in and around London, senior nurses have warned.

Trusts are currently engaged in renewed attempts to reduce their use of agency staff because of impending spending cuts and pressure to improve quality from regulators. But trusts on the outskirts of London have faced problems because they abide by the same Agenda for Change pay scales as the rest of the country, despite higher living costs in the South East. Trusts in the capital are however allowed to pay “London weighting”.

West Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust emergency and acute care manager Pat Reid said nurses being attracted into the capital was a big problem for the trust. They could earn about £5,000 a year more in inner London, which made reducing agency rates difficult – though it could be done with careful planning and image marketing, she said.

Deborah Wheeler, who became executive director of nursing at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust last month, she said: “It is harder for hospitals in outer London because you can commute to inner London, and get that extra [pay] weighting, which is more than the rail fare. “We are then also competing against the big teaching hospitals [which can be attractive to work at].”

Ms Wheeler said the trust was trying to overcome the problem. She said: “My preference is to look at the other things [than pay]. It is about giving people support, a good working environment and team, and access to training and development.”

The Liberal think-tank CentreForum proposed last week that national pay scales should be scrapped in favour of regional ones. The conservatives have also suggested they will attempt to dismantle Agenda for Change and national public sector pay contracts.

But James Buchan, professor of health employment research at Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh, said: “Local pay negotiation would be a very, very difficult undertaking and to try to do it at a time when funding is extremely tight would be challenging.”

A Unison spokeswoman said: “To cut their vacancy rates, hospital trusts should point out the benefits of working at the local hospital. They should also make sure they are staff friendly employers, including having good transport links, flexible working and good childcare arrangements.”

Copyright Nursing Times, Tuesday 9th January 2010

Source: http://www.nursingtimes.net/whats-new-in-nursing/acute-care/outer-london-faces-nurse-recruitment-trouble/5011192.article

The Prime Minister has pledged more choice, control and personalisation in health and social care. Addressing an audience at health think-tank the King’s Fund this morning, Gordon Brown set out plans to expand the offer of care in the home and to provide dedicated one-to-one nursing for cancer patients. The PM said the reforms would work towards creating an NHS which focuses more on prevention and early intervention.

“People want public services that are not take it or leave it, but personal to their needs; tailored to their aspirations and responsive to their choices and decisions about how they want to run their own lives.”

By accelerating reform, the PM aims to introduce new, legally enforcable NHS guarantees including:

    * Cancer patients to see a specialist within two weeks of referral by a GP and cancer test results within one week
    * All patients to be offered hospital treatment within no more than 18 weeks of seeing their GP
    * All patients will be able to register with a GP open into evenings and weekends
    * A regular healthcheck on the NHS for everyone over 40
    * In the care system, all those with the highest needs being looked after in their own homes to receive free personal care

Earlier in the morning, the PM visited the Newham Community Centre where he met elderly and disabled people receiving support to continue living independently. The PM said a new national care service would aim to extend the offer of care in the home.  “Choice, control and personalisation is not just something for the young - the choices people make later in their lives might be different, but the right to a choice, to personalised care is just as important if not more so.”

Copyright www.Number10.gov.uk Monday 8th February 2010 12:06

Source: http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page22396