Analysis of Employee Recruitment in NHS: King's College Hospital

This report presents an analysis of employee recruitment processes within the NHS, specifically using King's College Hospital as a case study. The study begins with an introduction outlining the importance of effective recruitment in healthcare, followed by an examination of the research problem, aims, objectives, and research questions. Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive literature review, exploring existing research on healthcare recruitment, including the challenges faced, and the impact on the quality of healthcare. Chapter 3 details the research methodology, encompassing the research philosophy, approach, strategy, time horizon, data collection methods, and ethical considerations. The study aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current recruitment process at King's College Hospital, propose changes, and assess the impact on healthcare delivery, using a combination of secondary data analysis and a mock recruitment exercise to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the process.

ANALYSIS OF EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT IN NHS SETTING: A CASE STUDY OF
KING’S COLLEGE HOSPITAL
STUDENT NAME: OLUKEMI AJUWON
INSTITUTION: GSM LONDON
COURSE: RESEARCH METHORD
TUTOR: DR BRUNO ROQUE CIGNACCO
DATE: 23/04/2019
1

Table of Contents
Table of Contents..............................................................................................................2
Research Problem..........................................................................................................4
The aim of the Research................................................................................................5
Potential Impact of the Study.........................................................................................6
Chapter two........................................................................................................................6
Literature Review............................................................................................................6
Chapter Three....................................................................................................................8
Research philosophy......................................................................................................8
Research Approach........................................................................................................9
Research Strategy..........................................................................................................9
Time Horizon................................................................................................................10
Data analysis................................................................................................................10
Research Limitations....................................................................................................11
Ethical Aspects.............................................................................................................11
References...................................................................................................................14
2
Chapter One

Introduction
National Healthcare Service abbreviated as NHS, is a public funded national healthcare
system. The NHS facilities all over the world have a common aim which is to offer the
medical services in their respective countries (Loan-Clarke et al. 2019, P.6). The
common objective is often met with the need for qualified personnel to perform different
tasks in different sections of the hospitals at different levels. It goes without saying that,
qualifying employees before recruitment is one of the most vital roles that the human
resource department of the hospitals has to perform every time there is need to recruit
members of staff to join the workforce at the NHS (Powell, M & Miller, R 2016 p. 102).
Different NHS facilities might have different criteria for recruiting their staff members.
However, the aim of the NHS in the recruitment process is always to get the best
person with the relevant skill and knowledge to join their teams. Pre-employment
checks on the candidates, therefore, become vital for the decision making of the human
resource teams of the NHS (Evans 2017, p. 8). In general, the NHS is majorly
interested in the identity of the candidates, the professional registrations and
qualifications and employment history, additionally, it vital to check if the candidates
have the rights to work and any criminal record.
Some institutions pose additional checks to improve the quality of their selection of
candidates for the NHS jobs (Chatwin & Ackers 2018, p. 67). Recent studies indicate
that there are over three hundred and fifty careers at NHS spread across different levels
of the facilities. Individual interests, skills, and qualifications play a significant role in
identifying which of the carriers is best for an individual. To add to the universally
accepted principles that govern employment at a medical facility such as NHS, United

Kingdom has a set of NHS employment policies that every NHS in the country has to
observe. The employment policies ensure that employees at NHS are employed at fair
rates and that the employees get training and development opportunities to improve
their potential (People Management 2019, p. 11). Additionally, there is an emphasis on
equal employment opportunities for all and favorable working conditions. The policy also
requires the NHS to maintain a pension scheme. Kings collage NHS abides by the U.K
employment policy for NHS. The facility offers a wide range of employment recruitment
procedure opportunities in the different sectors of the hospital. The workforce at the
facility is composed of nurses, healthcare assistants, temporary staff, support services
staff and staff on work experience (Quirk 2018 p. 1). This composition of the workforce
is carefully selected through a recruitment process that is unique to the hospital to get
the best candidates possible to join the team. The recruitment process at the hospital
involves an online application, short listing of the candidates, one on one interviews and
handpicking of successful candidates. This research analyses the effectiveness of the
recruitment process of employees at Kings College NHS.
Research Problem
Over the past few years, Kings College NHS has relied on the existing employee
recruitment process to fill in job positions at the facility. The employment process greatly
relies on online applications from where the candidates are picked and shortlisted
before proceeding with the rest of the employment process. The aim of the hospital just
like any other hospital is to get the best candidate possible to join the workforce. The
traditional way of making online advertisements has always attracted a pool of
applicants who comprise of both qualified and unqualified applicants. The duty of the

recruiting team, therefore, has been composed of an initial stage of selecting qualified
applicants from the list of applicants (Johnson, Carpenter,& Scarbrough-Lang 2012, p.
22). After the identification of qualified applicants, the team then has to review the
shortlisted applicants to come up with the most suitable individuals for the job. There is
a need to improve on the effectiveness and efficiency of the recruiting process with aims
of reducing the amount of time it takes to fill some positions and targeting the most
relevant people for specific job positions.
The aim of the Research
This study aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current employee
recruitment process at Kings College NHS
 To examine the advantages of the employee recruitment process at Kings
College Hospital NHS.
 To analyse the weaknesses of the employee recruitment process at Kings
College Hospital NHS.
 To propose changes in the current employee recruitment process at Kings
College NHS
Research Questions
 What is the impact of the ongoing employee recruitment process at Kings
College Hospital NHS?
 How effective is the current employee recruitment process at Kings College
Hospital NHS?

 What is the impact of the current employee recruitment system on health care
delivery at Kings College Hospital NHS?
Potential Impact of the Study
This study looks into critical factors that affect the efficiency and effectiveness of the
employee recruitment process at Kings College Hospital NHS. The findings of this
study will be vital not only for the management of the hospital but also for scholars who
are interested in further research in the same area. The study seeks to provide
recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the employee
recruitment process (Loan-Clarke et al. 2019, p. 889). Future studies will then focus on
finding out if the applications of the recommendations of this study have an impact on
the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of the employee recruitment process at Kings
College NHS. Unlike the traditional recruitment process, the study seeks to establish a
recruitment procedure that goes beyond just qualifications but also follow up on the
history of the candidates to avoid cases of non-performing qualified personnel (Sophie
& Narain 2018, p. 28)

Chapter two
Literature Review
Quality of healthcare at NHS
Many scholars have conducted studies in the area of employee recruitment processes
for the NHS. Bryant (2019) looked into the Medicaid rates concerning the labor demand.
The study notes that one of the reasons as to why there are low rates of Medicaid in the
United States is low payments offered to the medical staff. While critical staffing is an
issue that all NHS have to deal with, it is vital to come up with adequate processes that
ensure that the members of the staff recruited are right for the job. However, this study
indicates that there is more to just hiring staff. An issue arises when it comes to
retaining staff in the medical facility (Bryant 2019 p. 6). Some of the recommendations
of the study include reduction of working hours for the medical practitioners at the NHS
and increase in the remuneration of the employees working at the NHS. The study
addressed the low Medicaid ratio from the perspective of retaining current employees at
the facilities. However, it ignores critical factor such as retirement or incapacitation of
the current workers to deliver. Such scenarios call for recruitment of new employees
who must have relevant qualifications. In another study, Mille & Bird (2014)
acknowledge the importance of analyzing employee abilities during the recruitment
process. The study evaluates the effectiveness of an assessment tool used for medical
students and in the recruitment process of medical personnel. Taking into consideration
a variety of recruitment models for medical practitioner recruiters, the study
recommends that the recruits should settle for the most efficient and effective model for
the position they seek to fill in their facility.

Hiring of Medical Staff at NHS
When it comes to skills in the medical field, (Sutherland 2012, p.35) points out that
clinical observation is one of the best ways of gaining expertise for the recruits in the
therapeutic area. NHS hospitals should, therefore, consider using clinical observations
as training for the new hires before adding them to the workforce to make sure that they
gain adequate preparation for the job. In another study, it is evident that just like in any
other field; the recruitment of staff in the medical sector is faced with many challenges.
It is through addressing the problems that arise from the recruitment processes of the
medical team that we make the recruitment process more efficient and more effective. A
survey conducted by (Crofts 2015, p.58) found out that there is pressure in public
medical facilities and that NHS hospitals have a hard time filling positions as a result of
the shortcomings of the existing recruitment processes. According to the study, the NHS
hospitals will do better if they reviewed the recruitment procedures. However, the study
does not identify the specific weaknesses in the hiring process of the medical
personnel. There is need to make individual assessment of every individual that the
medical facilities hire in order to make sure that the positions are filled qualified
personnel (Miller & Bird 2014, p. 24)
Chapter Three
Research philosophy
The study will make use of secondary data from the Kings College NHS hospital. The
data will include the processes that the hospital uses for recruitment, the duration it
takes to fill positions at the hospital, the number of applicants in the recent job

advertisements, the number of qualified applicants in the recent job advertisements and
the number of posts needed to be filled in the last job advertisements.
Research Approach
Data collection for this study will be done from the records of Kings College Hospital
NHS. The data on the numbers of total applicants will be run against the total number of
qualified applicants to determine any correlation between the two. The information on
the duration it takes to fill positions will then be compared to the standard length of time
needed to fill a position to determine the efficiency level of the existing recruitment
process.
Research Strategy
This study will make use of a new concept of qualified personnel invitation that will be
used for a mock recruiting process, and the result of the simulated recruiting process
will then get compared with the real data from previous contracting exercises. The new
model will involve providing a database were job seekers update their curriculum vitae
and profiles. The model will still make use of job advertisements; however, priority will
be given to the people who already have updated profiles on the hospitals' job
recruitment database. The patterns make it easy to identify qualified people for the job
advertised and makes sure that only qualified people are contacted to apply for the
position if they are interested. The model will do away with the applications and short-
listing stages of the current recruitment process (Bryant 2019, p. 16). The duration takes
to fill a position will then get a comparison with the current data.

Time Horizon
The study will make use of one-time data collected from the NHS and another set of
data obtained from the mock recruitment exercise. The data will be collected in two
different durations. The first duration for the one-time data will focus on the hospital
employment data while the second duration will concentrate on the one-time data as per
the mock recruitment exercise.
Data Collection
The study will make use of secondary data obtained from the management and human
resource department of the Kings Collage Hospital NHS. Additionally, the study will also
make use of the raw data collected from the mock interview conducted by the study.
The study will employ data collection techniques of observation, interviews, and the use
of questionnaires for data collection. The questionnaires and interviews will be vital in
recording secondary data from the medical facility while observation will aid in the data
collection from the mock interview that the study will conduct.
Data analysis
The study will make use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) data
analysis program to establish the correlation between the number of the applicant in the
previous job adverts and the number of qualified applicants in the last job
advertisements. The association will also be used to determine the efficiency and
effectiveness of the currently applied recruitment procedure. The second set of data
which will include the number of people invited to apply for the mock job and the
number of qualified applicants will also be subjected to SPSS analysis to determine the

correlation between the two sets of data. The efficiency and effectiveness level of the
new process will also be assessed. The two results will then get compared with each
other to draw conclusions and recommendations.
Research Limitations
The research has two significant limitations. The first limitation comes in terms of
verification of the data that is collected from the NHS. It is not possible to establish if the
data retrieved from the hospital records are correct or not. The study also assumes that
all the applicants of the previous jobs at the hospital do apply only after getting adverts
and that none of the applicants got an invitation from the hospital to apply for the
positions as a result of the applicant's qualifications (Ross, Iguchi & Panicker 2018, p.
140).
Ethical Aspects
The research adheres to moral consideration. A later obtained from the tutor will be
presented to the management of the hospital to authorize the use of the hospital data
for this research. Any data that is deemed private and confidential by the hospital will
not be used in the study. The study will also restrict itself to the areas authorized by the
management of the hospital.

TIME LINES
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Introduction
Objectives
Research
questions
Potential
impact of
the
research
Literature
Review
Research
Philosophy
Research
Approach
Research
strategy
Data
Collection
Data
Analysis
Conclusion
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Recommen
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Submission
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Presentatio
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