Recruiters supplying the NHS with non-clinical staff, such as clerical workers and porters, have been given additional time to ensure they meet the health testing requirements of the PASA (Purchasing and Supply Agency) non-clinical framework agreement.

Under the original arrangements agreed with PASA, all non-clinical temporary staff supplied by agencies would have been required to meet the health testing requirements by April 28, the ‘go-live’ date for the contract. Among the requirements are that agency staff are immune from a range of medical conditions, including Hepatitis B, even though many of them have no direct contact with patients.

However, following discussions with the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), only new staff must be compliant by the ‘go-live’ date. Agency staff already working in the NHS will now have until 1 August to meet the health requirements. The deadline for agencies tendering for the framework agreement was on February 16.

Tom Hadley, director of external relations at the REC, told Recruiter that the REC would use this period to contact all agencies who had tendered to get feedback. “We need to ensure that all the checks are absolutely necessary and proportionate,” he says, adding “Do admin staff with no contact with patients really need to have Hepatitis B checks?”

Recruiters will also be able to use the time to put contracts in place with occupational health specialists, he says. Robert Carlin, managing director of specialist occupational health service provider Healthier Business, told Recruiterthat one of the big challenges was explaining to workers why the medical checks are necessary.

Hadley says the REC also intends to contact all those agencies who didn’t tender, to find out whether there are any particular barriers for these types of contracts, particularly for small firms.

He says one reason that recruiters may be put off is because they are non-medical recruiters not used to the tendering process for PASA framework agreements, and the paperwork involved.