20 COMMENT
Bureaucracy is stopping retired clinicians helping with Covid vaccine
Retired health workers are eager to rejoin , writes Marilyn Eveleigh , but the bureaucratic hurdles are beating them back
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Getting millions of people vaccinated against coronavirus is a mammoth task for the NHS . It requires the logistics and workforce that developed the rapid and heroic clinical practice and environments of the early pandemic . Regrettably , that workforce is now exhausted . All healthcare organisations are overwhelmed with the pandemic while juggling priorities with the challenge of staff isolating and a workforce defi cit . We have enough beds now ; we don ’ t have suffi cient nurses . Before the pandemic , there were more than 40,000 nursing vacancies .
It was , therefore , logical for the NHS to call on retired clinicians to help roll out vaccinations . Nurses are skilled and experienced in administering injections : we give the vast majority of them .
Thousands of nurses and doctors have responded but are being met with unreasonable barriers of NHS bureaucracy . Colleagues have to provide more than 20 pieces of documentation , most with low relevance , deterring them when they are desperately needed .
This is not a new scenario . Last year in April , 70,000 retired or willing returners offered their clinical expertise . It is estimated only around 30,000 were processed ; it is unclear how many were used .
I was one that got through the bureaucracy . The process was frustratingly laborious with information lost between numerous silo-working departments in the same NHS organisation even though I have current Nursing and Midwifery Council registration and an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service certifi cate .
Coming back to support staff shortages seemed the right thing to do ; it was refl ected in thanks and praise I received . Unfortunately , this welcome was not matched by the NHS culture and mechanisms . The health service is plagued by disjointed IT systems and protocols for contracted staff , with minimal support or relevance . Management felt distant and I wished some nurses were kinder . Interestingly , in the nine months since I came back , I have never met another returner .
Ensuring the vaccine is administered by staff that are trained for the specifi c role is fundamental . Responses to this crisis must be safe , proportionate and humane . But many clinicians offering their expertise are now questioning whether the training for de-radicalisation , confl ict resolution and fi re safety is really necessary for pandemic vaccinating . Others are not even completing the enrolment process .
To control this virus , the Government needs the population to modify personal behaviour , manage political beliefs and act ethically for the greater good . NHS recruitment needs to adopt reasonable processes that refl ect the huge challenge we face .
Recruitment of returners must be revitalised as the retention of long-serving nurses is not guaranteed . I might be one of the nurses who leaves again .
Many clinicians are asking if the training in confl ict resolution and fi re safety is necessary for the immediate role
Marilyn Eveleigh is a nurse adviser and independent trainer in East Sussex nursinginpractice . com Winter 2021