If you are a doctor or a nurse within the NHS

[Working]

... who is your actual employer?

Is it the NHS, or is it the trust you work for, or is it the individual hospital you work at?

(when I say who is your employer, I mean who did you apply for your job with / who interviewed you / who pays you etc).

Thanks!

[Iklboo]

Not a doctor myself but work with them. It can be complex

If they're a GP we write to the Trust that looks after the area they work in. They are usually paid by the Practice they work for

If they work for a hospital we write to the Chief Executive or Medical Director of the hospital as their contract is usually with the hospital

If they are a locum we write to the locum agency for a list of placements they've worked in as well as asking for a reference from the agency as they are employed by the agency (usually)

[Working]

Thanks Iklboo. It is complex!

[Maize]

The trust employ me. Its different for medics though.

[tiredemma]

My Trust employed me

[Working]

Thanks Maize and tiredemma. Are you both nurses?

[TheGashlycrumbTinies]

I'm a nurse employed by the trust.

DH is a doctor, and he is employed by the trust.

Why do you need to know?

[tiredemma]

yes, im a nurse.

[queenofdenial2009]

The trust (primary or acute) employs clinical staff. GPs are predominantly self-employed or employed by a practice.

I'm nosey too - why do you want to know?

[MarthaFarquhar]

I'm seconded to the NHS and my secondment agreement is with the NHS Trust (secondary/hospital trust in my case)

[EccentricaGallumbits]

Hospital trust employs those working in the hospital.

Primary Care trusts employ GPs, practice nurses, intermediate care teams etc.

My employer is a hospital within a certain hospitals trust (which have a couple of hospitals).

[milkysmum]

I'm a nurse and would put the trust.

[onepieceoflollipop]

Nurse

Employed by the Trust

[Sidge]

I'm a practice nurse and am employed by the GPs I work for, not the PCT.

[brimfull]

I am a hospital nurse employed by PCT

[queenofdenial2009]

Sorry no, GPs are not employed by the primary care trust. Believe me I know, this is what my job is all about - if we employed the GPs we could actually get them to do a decent job...

[Working]

Thanks for all your replies, very helpful. I'm just doing a bit of research for someone.

Queenofdenial - what is your job if you don't mind me asking?

And can anyone tell me - are trusts basically semi-autonomous bodies that make their own budgetary / recruitment decisions? Or does everything come from above (the SHA)?

[weegiemum]

My dh is a GP - self employed contractor to the Health Board (Scotland).

He is officially the employer of his staff (receptionists, nurse etc).

He does a day a week in another practice where he is employed by the GP principal.

[Iklboo]

Agree GPs aren't normally employed by the Trust - but in my job if we need information about them or their practice we write to the Trust (for sort of non-biased information IYSWIM). GPs are like others said either self-employed or are employed by the practice they work for

[Working]

.

[queenofdenial2009]

I'm a commissioning manager for a PCT. Trusts are stand-alone public sector organisations with ultimate accountability to the Secretary of State for Health via the Chief Exec.

They receive an allocation (money) from the Treasury determined by the Comprehensive Spending Review. Trusts make their own budgetary and recruitment decisions, but also have to demonstrate that they meet all the targets and standards set out by the DoH. This ranges from the four hour A&E target to equality and diversity. The role of the SHA is open to interpretation, but they're basically performance managers but exert a huge amount of influence.

This is possible the most boring post I have ever written and I could go on at much greater length; don't worry I won't. Now, go on, tell us why you want to know.

[Working]

QoD thank you so much. You may have found it boring but I was gripped by every word.

I'm just doing some research for someone who is looking into the healthcare recruitment market. So nothing exciting.

I'm very grateful!

[Working]

Actually another question QueenofDenial... do you know how Trusts and local authorities interact? Ie what their roles are in relation to one another?

[queenofdenial2009]

Primary care trusts and LA work closely on a range of areas together, most notably public health and the overlap between health and social care. This is often seen in jointly funded posts, such as directors of children's or older people's services.

There are a few care trusts in the country where the PCT and LA have merged to form one organisation. Bath and North East Somerset are one example. There are mixed opinions as to how well it works. Every LA/PCT areas (boundaries normally match, it's called coterminosity) has to produce a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment which looks at what both organisations cover. You can usually find it on the PCT and LA website; they're usually quite interesting about your local area if a bit long.

You really are a sucker for punishment...

[Working]

I LOVE you QoD! Thank you. Yes I'd just (thrillingly) discovered JSNAs.

I really am very grateful.