1.
Age Diversity in the Workforce Competence 50+ Gothenburg 18 June 2007 Carole Smith NHS Employers UK

2.
NHS Employers <ul><li>NHS Employers is the </li></ul><ul><li>employers’ organisation for the </li></ul><ul><li>NHS in England </li></ul><ul><li>Our aim is to help employers </li></ul><ul><li>improve the working lives of </li></ul><ul><li>NHS staff and through them, to </li></ul><ul><li>provide better care for patients </li></ul>

3.
Age Diversity in the Workforce <ul><li>Remit of the work programme: </li></ul><ul><li>To initiate, develop and implement </li></ul><ul><li>a national strategy that will assist </li></ul><ul><li>the NHS in addressing age </li></ul><ul><li>discrimination and take steps to </li></ul><ul><li>address workforce capacity in the </li></ul><ul><li>light of demographic change </li></ul>

4.
Age Profile of the Health and Social Care workforce

5.
Demographic change – some facts… <ul><li>There are 19 million people over 50 years old in the UK </li></ul><ul><li>This represents over 40% of the population </li></ul><ul><li>By 2020 there will be 23 million people over 50 years old in the UK </li></ul><ul><li>This demographic shift affects our service users and our workforce </li></ul>

6.
Background to the Age Agenda <ul><li>Increasing life expectancy, reducing fertility levels, declining birth rates -> growing proportion of older people </li></ul><ul><li>Post war baby boomers near retirement </li></ul><ul><li>Fewer school leavers joining labour market: relying on school leavers is not sustainable </li></ul><ul><li>Expectations of the ageing population - as employees and as service users </li></ul>

7.
The diversity of the UK population <ul><li>Ethnicity: 92% of the population are white </li></ul><ul><li>Religion or Belief: 77% say they have a religion </li></ul><ul><li>Disability: 12 million disabled people (1 in 5 adults) </li></ul><ul><li>Age: 16% of the population are aged over 65 and 75% of people over the age of 85 have a disability </li></ul><ul><li>Sexuality: 6.6% of population estimated to be homosexual or bisexual </li></ul>

8.
The Diverse Workforce of the NHS <ul><li>Gender: of the staff who work for the NHS </li></ul><ul><ul><li>20.8% are male </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>73.7% are female </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Ethnicity: we have 165,249 staff from BME backgrounds: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>40.3% work in medical and dental professions </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>13.8% work in non medical professions </li></ul></ul>

9.
Health of the population <ul><li>Life Expectancy: Boys and girls born in 2003 expected to live to 76 and 81 years respectively </li></ul><ul><li>Ill Health: Females live longer than males but greater proportion of a female’s lifespan is lived in ill-health (15% compared with 12%) </li></ul><ul><li>Medication: 36% of people aged 75 and over are taking four or more prescribed medicines. The NHS spends around 40% of its budget on this group </li></ul><ul><li>Ageing Population: Those aged 65 and over constitute a sixth of the population but occupy almost two-thirds of general and acute hospital beds </li></ul>

10.
Extensive legal framework includes: <ul><li>The Equalities Act 2007 </li></ul><ul><li>The Work and Families Act 2006 </li></ul><ul><li>The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 </li></ul><ul><li>Flexible Working Regulations 2006 </li></ul><ul><li>Disability Discrimination 1995,2005, 2006 </li></ul><ul><li>The Race Relations Act 1976 and 2000 </li></ul><ul><li>The Human Rights Act 1998 </li></ul><ul><li>The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 </li></ul><ul><li>The Equal Pay Act 1970 </li></ul>

11.
Workforce Ageing – the issues <ul><li>Maximising potential of all staff – regardless of age </li></ul><ul><li>Retention of experienced staff and attracting new entrants </li></ul><ul><li>Shortages of skilled staff, continuity, organisational memory </li></ul><ul><li>Need to reduce ill health retirement </li></ul><ul><li>Competitive labour market demands flexible employment practices </li></ul>

12.
The Old Work/Life Pattern 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Age Education Work Leisure

13.
A More Cyclic Life Pattern Has Evolved Age 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Education Work Leisure

14.
<ul><li>So….. </li></ul><ul><li>how is the NHS </li></ul><ul><li>addressing issues </li></ul><ul><li>relating to the ageing </li></ul><ul><li>workforce? </li></ul>

15.
What NHS Employers is doing <ul><li>Briefing documents </li></ul><ul><li>Age Diversity Reference Group </li></ul><ul><li>Supporting practical research </li></ul><ul><li>Tools and materials </li></ul><ul><li>Visits and presentations </li></ul><ul><li>Age Champion! </li></ul><ul><li>Social dialogue in Europe </li></ul>

16.
Checklist for action <ul><li>Strategy for addressing demographic change & the ageing workforce </li></ul><ul><li>Awareness training programmes for all especially managers and recruiters </li></ul><ul><li>Extended working & retention initiatives for staff of all ages </li></ul><ul><li>Gather, analyse and act upon employee information </li></ul><ul><li>Consider Positive Action programmes </li></ul><ul><li>Develop flexible working practices </li></ul><ul><li>Introduce support for staff who are carers </li></ul>

17.
Innovative practices <ul><li>Removal of retirement age </li></ul><ul><li>Using volunteers </li></ul><ul><li>Healthy workplaces </li></ul><ul><li>Training & development strategy </li></ul><ul><li>Foundation trust addresses demography </li></ul><ul><li>E-Recruitment via NHS Jobs </li></ul><ul><li>Flexible retirement and pensions </li></ul><ul><li>Intergenerational learning </li></ul>

19.
Acting as an enabler, resource, champion, catalyst, promoter of good practice, raising awareness .... <ul><li>Thank you! I hope to learn from others at this conference </li></ul><ul><li>For further information and all materials please see our website: </li></ul><ul><li>www.nhsemployers.org/excellence/excellence-361.cfm </li></ul><ul><li>Email : carole.smith@nhsemployers.org </li></ul>