The changes in the NHS will have uncertain impacts for those in allied health jobs. When the Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are done away with over the course of the next few years (the first being expected to disappear as early as spring 2012), those with jobs in radiography and jobs in occupational therapy – particularly if they are on temporary or part-time contracts – may face an unclear future. GPs will be given charge of budgets, and therefore those outside the mainstream of recruitment and traditional employment set-up may discover there are changes to the methods that they engage in the jobs market.
There are 152 PCTs in England, responsible for allocating 80 percent of the NHS budget of £106 billion. PCTs are now responsible for commissioning local services – hospitals and GPs, community clinics and counselling services. The PCTs are set to be dissolved by the government by 2013, with GPs taking on the part that they have in order to give them a greater degree of control and directness in the commissioning process. But although the NHS budget has nominally been protected, doctors have also been told they need to make £20 billion of savings within four years. The Royal College of Nursing warned that the ‘penny-wise, pound-foolish approach’ would mean that some important services would face reductions to save money in the short term, leading to higher costs in the future. Counselling – already one of the NHS’s ‘Cinderella services’ – is likely to be impacted by the shakeup. Some GP surgeries are already getting rid of their counsellors, with more mental health services likely to be affected by the abolition of the PCTs.
The same set of factors is likely to affect further services, including allied health jobs – in fact, with reductions being made across the board despite this nominal ‘ring fencing’ of money, it is likely that all areas of the NHS will suffer difficulties and changes of one sort or another. Jobs in occupational therapy, jobs in radiography and those who seek jobs in other areas of the allied health sector will be smart to consider their options carefully and to think ahead for some of the upheaval that is going to come.
Please visit http://www.abouthealthprofessionals.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.
http://www.abouthealthprofessionals.co.uk/
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