Department of Health awards contract<br>for new NHS e-recruitment service

The Department of Health awards UK based business and IT consultancy, Methods, a contract to provide the NHS in England with a national e-recruitment service for 5
years.

Methods, with a successful track record of working with the NHS, has partnered with Jobsite UK to manage and implement the 6m new electronic recruitment service.

The online ëone stop job shopí for the NHS, which will roll out in early 2004, will increase employersí access to job candidates, improve efficiency in the recruitment
process and save the NHS money.

With over one million staff in England and general running costs of 50 billion a year, the NHS is expected to make much needed savings to its recruitment spend by
offering the new online service. The service is expected to offer around 24m in local savings in advertising and administrative costs. The money saved will be redirected
locally to patient care.

The site will include job vacancies and information about NHS jobs and NHS employers. Prospective employees will be able to download a standard online application form, and receive daily e-mail alerts when suitable jobs are posted.
Peter Rowlins, Managing Director of Methods says:
ìWe are delighted to be providing this new service for the NHS. This will enable widespread improvements to the way in which staff are recruited across the Service, together with significant cost savings which will be retained within
the NHS.î

The new national job site will complement the existing NHS Careers service and link to local NHS employersí sites ñ making it possible to recruit for local vacancies
through national advertising campaigns.

The new e-recruitment service will develop alongside other NHS developments using electronic business processes, particularly NHS Professionals and NHSU. The
service will ultimately link into the Electronic Staff Record as the national access point for electronic applications into the ESR system.

Centrally funded for the first five years, NHS employers who sign up to the service will be required to account for cash saved due to reduced temporary staffing,
advertising and administration costs. Extra income generated by the service can be reallocated within the employersí local NHS organisation.

Benefits for employers include a greater choice of applicants, more resource-efficient recruitment and better information for managers enabling them to make well-informed
decisions. Employers will be able to compose and place advertisements - with attached candidate information packs - directly on the web site, view and manage online applications, and record information on electronic recruitment activity.

Amongst the expected benefits to employees are a single ëshop windowí to access information about NHS jobs, a wider range of jobs to choose from, application
tracking, daily e-mail alerts of new suitable vacancies, the use of a job search facility with multiple criteria and the possibility to complete a single application form for more than one job.

Pilots go live in Autumn 2003 in selected areas across England. Any NHS employers wishing to take part should contact the project co-ordinator Sarah.Clark@doh.gsi.gov.uk for further details.