Corruption in the NHS!!

At least that's what they'd have you believe

I thought this week I’d dip a tentative toe into the mire of political correctness and wokism….. But by way of a contrast, I thought I’d actually report on a particular element that people (who generally know nothing of which they speak) like to cite as a prime example. The staff hiring policy of public sector bodies.

You know the bar-room blowhard’s view already “Oh yes it’s all jobs for the boys, doesn’t matter whether you are any good or not, that’s why everything is so crap”. If it’s not that argument, it’s “Oh yes everybody they hire has to be a cross-dressing, one-armed…..(Insert prejudice here) you can’t get a job unless you are a member of some kind of minority”

So here is an insight into the hiring process of the most visible of all public sector organisations, the NHS. Except I do know how it works and from both sides of the interview table.

You see for the last 10 years or so it just so happens that my business has had a sequence of contracts within the NHS. During those contracts I have on several occasions sat on interview panels for roles. So, I’ve seen the process from that side, however up until a couple of weeks ago I hadn’t seen the candidate’s angle. But a role appeared on the NHS jobs website (www.jobs.nhs.uk ) which I liked the look of. It was local and had a lot of scope for me to bring a bit of my relevant knowledge to bear. I thought if nothing else it would be an interesting exercise to apply.

So started the application process. I had to declare lots of the usual stuff. Am I a criminal? Am I an employee of the NHS? (No jokes about the two answers being linked please) Am I an immigrant and if so do I have a visa? Then straight into employment history. There was also the usual Equal opportunities statement, to which I divulged the usual answers…. Male/pale etc etc. There was also a lengthy opportunity to explain why I thought I’d be so bloody wonderful in the role (my words).

I hit send and forgot about it.

Now we will cross over to the other side of the fence. Because the selection process is where it’s interesting. The selection panel (I’ve sat on a couple that were five-strong and one of three from memory. The candidates (according to NHS jobs in my case there were 204 of us) were down selected initially to weed out any that had inadequate hard qualifications or were obviously unsuitable from the relevant experience perspective.

The details of the remainder of about 20 I recall from my time, would then be passed over to the selection panel. BUT the candidates are completely anonymised. It is impossible to tell the age, sex, ethnicity, or disability of any candidate. The candidate’s applications are then scored by the panel according to a predetermined set of criteria (This is created by the panel in advance). The scoring system is created solely on the basis of suitability for the role. The panel complete their scoring and then a selection panel meeting takes place.

The intention is to select the candidates who go forward to the interview cycle. Normally there are perhaps 3 or 4 who are obviously strong contenders, but I’ve sat on panels that interviewed 10 candidates. But it will be the top 10 best scores always. No bending of the selection rules.

Something worth saying here is that ALL candidates whether internal or external go through the same process. Which explains the comment of the leader of the panel when she came to pick me up in reception for my interview:

“Oh, I thought it might be you!”

Of course, the interview process reveals everything physical about the candidates. The cover is blown, but the underlying principle here is fairness and that explains why before the interviews happen the interview questions are set in advance. Each candidate gets asked the same questions and this highlights something else worth bearing in mind. The Public Sector in the UK has to be seen to be fair and part of that is that any candidate who feels they haven’t had fair treatment can challenge the process and their failure. This means that the process has above all else to be transparent. Note taking of candidate answers and the minutiae of the interview process is utterly comprehensive.

The interview panel members then hand in their own notes from each interview for filing.

Therefore, the modern Public Sector interview is light years away from interviews of the past. I reckon if you throw in my contract interviews for my consultancy work into the mix I’ve probably had north of 200 interviews over the years. Up until about 5 years ago I regarded myself as an expert in winning over interview panels, joking and creating a rapport, you know….. charming the socks off people. The job itself was quite frequently almost secondary. I’ve got jobs that I (literally) couldn’t actually do because I was much more expert in interview technique than the people actually interviewing me. I would always think of Manuel in Fawlty Towers when told his English was hopeless… “But I learn, Mr Fawlty, I learn!”

However, the sheen appears to have come off the bullshit these days (Can bullshit have a sheen?) I reckon that’s down to the lack of manoeuvrability in the interview process.

And it’s a good thing.

Finally, then, there is the selection meeting. Scores are totted up and discussion takes place. Notes are read back and agreement reached on the successful candidate. Minutes are taken of this meeting too.

The point is that if the NHS is challenged and can’t explain why a person was appointed to a job, with documentary evidence, it can get sued.

So, it was clear to me that when I heard I was in fact runner-up for the role I had applied for that I could blame many things, but what I couldn’t blame was a biased selection process. The successful candidate was announced (I am working via my company in the NHS Trust at the moment so I found out) and it was an internal candidate who sounds like she has more experience than me (dammit!)

Bear this tale in mind when you hear some ass declaiming about jobs for the boys in the public sector.

Now I could move on at this point to the Public Sector procurement process (sadly, one of my ‘core competencies’ as they are nowadays called) But I can hear your cries for mercy from here.

Too much excitement eh? Understandable….