Staff Handbook

Welcome to MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD

MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD is a new, progressive company within healthcare recruitment.
Our entire team has wide ranging experience in medical recruitment, and having seen all the best (and worst) ways to operate in this industry, we are trying to be a little different. We feel that the service provided by MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD places us amongst the best in the business, and we hope that you will agree.
Once you apply to register with MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD and complete our application form, we will undertake post registration checks. This includes asking you for references, training records, occupational health records, qualifications, professional body membership and right to work information. We will verify the authenticity of your qualifications with the awarding organisations. You will also need to complete an MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD interview with another clinician.
This is to ascertain your clinical competence allowing us to protect you, our clients and the patients.

1.	Code of Conduct, Roles & Responsibilities

At MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD we appreciate your skills and experience and we cannot wait to work with you. We pride ourselves on our commitment to our clients, ensuring our nurses/healthcare professionals deliver quality care; therefore we take breaches in professional conduct very seriously. We offer very competitive rates of pay but with it comes responsibility due to the professional nature of our work. As such we ask that you conduct yourself in a professional manner at all times as representing your profession, maintaining your duty of care and safeguarding the reputation of both yourself as well as that of MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD.
MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD - Code of Conduct:
•	Attend your shifts on time.
•	Inform us immediately of any concerns, lateness or shift cancellations
•	Follow the uniform policy and adhere to the strict infection control policies in place at the NHS Trust, CCG and Other sectors.
•	Ensure you arrive early to allow yourself time to familiarise yourself with new environments and equipment.
•	Adhere to local policies and procedures, in particular Health & Safety, Infection Prevention Control, Confidentiality and Medicines Management.
•	Maintain your Professional Registration (e.g.. NMC, GMC, HCPC), ensure you PDP is always up to date.
•	Familiarise yourself and keep up to date with the code of conduct relevant to your professional registration.
•	Attend annual appraisals and provide us with a copy or attend a MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD appraisal.
•	
•	Notify us if there are any changes to your Professional Registration or, if you are under investigation by any employer or regulatory body or receive any cautions, convictions or reprimands
•	If you become pregnant or your health changes please notify us as soon as possible.
•	Let us know if your work situation changes or if there are any issues with your placement so we can address these and find you a suitable alternative.
•	Be open and honest, act with integrity at all times
•	Maintain confidentiality at all times.

2.	Availability

As soon as you are compliant and ready to work, your Recruitment Consultant will begin working with you to find the right placement for your skills, and within your sphere of competence. We will remain in regular contact to obtain your availability but please feel free to call or e-mail to update this. Please notify us immediately if your availability changes so that we can keep your record up to date.

3.	Placements

MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD work with a wide variety of NHS and private organisations across the United Kingdom and can offer you a wide range of placements within your area. These are varying in speciality. Your Recruitment Consultant will provide you with the details of the assignment including the location, start date, hours of work, duties, rates of pay and any other relevant information.

Once you accept the position; the details will be confirmed verbally and sent to you in a booking confirmation. Please contact your Recruitment Consultant should you have any questions or concerns about the role as soon as possible.

CANCELLATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED BY TEXT MESSAGE OR EMAIL. Please call us. You MUST give at
least 4 hours notice before cancelling shifts for any reason. We understand that this may very occasionally not be possible but if there are more than 3 instances of less than 4 hours notice in any 12 month period or if you fail to attend a shift without letting us know at all we will have to stop engaging with you for agency work.

The nature of temporary work also means that unfortunately, there will be occasions when an assignment is cancelled or ends sooner than expected, often with short notice. Your Recruitment Consultant will endeavour to do everything possible to secure you alternative work., and you will always be notified immediately.
Please be aware, that if the client asks you to move to a different ward/department or area for your booking that falls within the remit of your clinical competence in order to protect patient safety IT IS

VITAL THAT YOU COMPLY. Cancellation fees will not be paid if you refuse and you may face restrictions from the client. Persistent refusals will result in you facing disciplinary action from Medicare Support & Housing Ltd  and could mean that you are restricted from working.

Some of the Trust's we work with require you to undertake a local induction training pack/check-list before or on commencement of shift, therefore it is important you complete this. Failure to do so may lead to a delay in payment and work that is offered.
4.	Time-sheets
MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD will provide you with a digital time-sheet for every shift that is booked. Please print this and take it with you. If you require paper copies please let us know. You must ensure your time-sheet is fully completed, and that hours are clearly recorded. Please deduct your breaks taken and ensure that it is signed by you and your line manager. You must complete a new time-sheet with each new week and each new assignment, or every time you are placed on a different ward/department.

Failure to submit a complete and authorised time-sheet may delay your payment.

Payment will be made to your nominated bank account, Umbrella or Limited Company weekly, one week in arrears. Please ensure your submit your Time-sheets by 12pm each Tuesday following the week you have worked.

5.	Tax and National Insurance
If you opt to work as a PAYE Locum, MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD will deduct Tax and National Insurance at source. If MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD Medical is your main employer, please provide us with a P45. If MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD is a secondary source of work, please complete a P46. We also require your National Insurance Number.

6.	Changes to your personal details
If there are any changes to your personal, contact or bank details, please let us know as soon as possible to avoid any delays in payment. If you feel in any way dissatisfied with our service, please let us know before deciding to leave, as we are always looking to learn and develop our services from our clients and candidates. On termination of your employment we will send you your P45.

7.	Working Time and Rest Breaks
Under the Working Time Directive (WTD) you are required to take a 20 minute break for every 6 hours worked. NHS organisations operate very strict break polices, where this is the case you will be notified via your Recruitment Consultant and highlighted on your confirmation this policy must be adhered to. You may opt out of the Working Time Directive by providing us with written confirmation (usually as part of our standard terms and conditions of engagement)

8.	Holiday Pay - applies to PAYE Locums only
You are entitled to 5.6 weeks annual leave each year. You have the choice whether or not to take leave. The holiday year runs from 1st April to 31st March. We will pay holiday pay to you based on every hour that you work and this will be marked clearly on your payslip. Please let us know if you would prefer us to accrue this on your behalf rather than paying it weekly.
9.	Sickness
Before each assignment or shift commences, you must declare yourself fit to work. You must notify MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD and the area that you are working in if this is not the case. If you are suffering from vomiting, Diarrhoea or a rash then you must be 48hrs clear of symptoms before you work.

10.	Occupational Health
Prior to starting working for MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD and annually, you are required to undergo an occupational health screening. You will be required to complete an annual health questionnaire and provide evidence of immunity/ immunisation in accordance with the Department of Health to the following:
•	Hepatitis B;
•	Measles;
•	Mumps;
•	Rubella;
•	Tuberculosis;
•	Influenza;
•	BCG;
•	Varicella

Workers who undertake exposure prone procedures (EPP) as part of their role will also be required to provide the results of blood tests taken from a UK Laboratory that demonstrate you are not currently infected with the following conditions:

•	Hepatitis B (surface antigen)
•	Hepatitis C (antibodies)
•	HIV I and II

These results must display that the samples were Identity Validated (IVS). Examples of areas requiring EPP blood results are: A&E, Theatres and Midwifery.

11.	Pregnancy & Maternity
For your own safety and that of your unborn child, please notify MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD if you become pregnant so that the necessary risk assessment can be undertaken.

12.	Insurance
You are professionally accountable for your clinical practice.

(For Nurses)
It a requirement of your professional registration with the NMC that you hold indemnity insurance to cover your practice. This is in the interests of clients, patients and registrants in the event of claims of professional negligence. If you are a RCN/Unison member we would like to have proof for your personal file, as they will provided you with a certain level of indemnity insurance.
(For Everyone)
Whilst employers have vicarious liability for the negligent acts and/or omissions of their employees, such cover does not normally extend to activities undertaken outside the registrant's employment. Independent practice would not be covered by vicarious liability. It is the individual registrant's responsibility to establish their insurance status and take appropriate action. Please provide MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD with evidence of your indemnity insurance.

13.	Record Keeping
In accordance with the NMC Code of Conduct and Guidance record keeping: "Good record keeping is an integral part of nursing and midwifery practice, and is essential to the provision of safe and effective care. It is not an optional extra to be fitted in if circumstances allow"

All staff working with MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD, regarding of profession or speciality should maintain good and accurate record keeping at all times in line with any policies laid out by the end client.

Please keep clear and accurate records.

You must keep clear and accurate records of the discussions you have, the assessments you make, the treatment and medicines you give, and how effective these have been.

You must complete records as soon as possible after an event has occurred. You must not tamper with original records in any way.
You must ensure any entries you make in someone's paper records are clearly and legibly signed, dated and timed.

You must ensure any entries you make in someone's electronic records are clearly attributed to you. You must ensure all records are kept securely.

These are the expectations of MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD.

14.	Confidentiality
During the course of your assignments with MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD you are required to maintain confidentiality all times.
•	You must respect people rights to confidentiality
•	You must ensure people are informed about how and why information is shared by those who will be providing care
•	You must disclose information if you believe someone is at risk of harm, in line with the law of the country in which you are practising
15.	Appraisals
You will need to show proof of a professional appraisal within the last year. If you are full/part time agency worker with MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD. You will need to attend an appraisal with a member of our clinical team. We always try and appraise the workers which we have met and interviewed for continuity. This will contribute to your CPD, together we will review the work you undertake, client feedback and any objectives you have previously set.
This is our standard and the standard required for the frameworks. We have a separate appraisal policy.

16.	Training
In accordance with framework guidelines, you are reminded that you must keep yourself up to date in all areas of your practice.
You will be required to provide evidence that you have undertaken your mandatory training in the last 12 months. If you work with children or babies, you will also be required to provide evidence of Paediatric or Neonatal Life Support. Please contact your recruitment consultant for more information on Mandatory Training providers if needed.
Mandatory training must be performed with a Core Skills Training & Skills for health aligned provider and cover the below modules as a minimum:
1.	Equality, Diversity and Human Rights
2.	Health, Safety and Welfare
3.	NHS Conflict Resolution (England only)
4.	Fire Safety
5.	Infection Prevention and Control
6.	Moving and Handling
7.	Safeguarding Adults
8.	Safeguarding Children
9.	
10.	Resuscitation
11.	Information Governance and Data Security
12.	Counter Fraud
13.	Lone Worker Training

There are no exceptions to the Mandatory Training Sessions we as a company require you to undertake, any non-compliance with this will prevent you from working for us, until these are passed.

17.	Medicines Management Safe Administration
As a healthcare professional, you have professional accountability to uphold the best interests of your patients:
•	You must be ensure you have the correct of the identity for the patient to whom the medicine is to be administered
•	You must check that the patient is not allergic to the medicine before administering it
•	You must know the therapeutic uses of the medicine to be administered, its normal dosage, side effects, precautions and contra-indications
•	You must be aware of the patient's plan of care (care plan or pathway)
•	You must check that the prescription or the label on medicine dispensed is clearly written and unambiguous
•	You must check the expiry date (where it exists) of the medicine to be administered
•	You must have considered the dosage, weight where appropriate, method of administration, route and timing
•	You must administer or withhold in the context of the patient's condition, (for example, Digoxin not usually to be given if pulse below 60)
•	You must contact the prescriber or another authorised prescriber without delay where contraindications to the prescribed medicine are discovered, where the patient develops a reaction to the medicine.
•	You must make a clear, accurate and immediate record of all medicine administered, intentionally withheld or refused by the patient, ensuring the signature is clear and legible. It is also your responsibility to ensure that a record is made when delegating the task of administering medicine.
•	Where medication is not given, the reason for not doing so must be recorded.

These are the expectations that MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD has for all of our workers.

18.	Data Protection - Use of Data
Your personal data will be treated in accordance with the Data Protection Act but in certain circumstances your data may be shared with other organisations where necessary in order to secure you work, for audit purposes, when required by a regulatory body or authority or when required by law.

Your details may also be used anonymously for business purposes such as marketing campaigns by MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD. This list is not exhaustive but in all cases MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD will ensure that your details are not passed on to any 3rd parties for any other reason other than those listed above, without your permission.

If you have undergone appraisal through MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD the appraisal documents will be retained securely in your MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD personnel file. This information will only be available if requested, employers may require to see your Appraisal Summary or Personal Development Plan your permission will be requested in this circumstance.

We will also ask you to provide the details of your next of kin and an emergency contact. It is your responsibility to notify these contacts that their personal contact details will be held on file. MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD will securely hold your bank details, ID and other documents in hard-copy and electronically.

19.	Smoking
All of the NHS and private sector environments are no smoking areas, please adhere to these regulations.

20.	Equal Opportunities

MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD does not discriminate against employees on the basis of their gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, gender reassignment, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, disability or age.

The principle of non-discrimination and equality of opportunity applies equally to the treatment of Agency workers, former staff, visitors, clients, customers and suppliers.

If you believe that you may have been discriminated against you are encouraged to raise the matter through our Complaints Procedure.

Any worker who is found to have committed acts of discrimination or harassment will be subject to action which may result in termination of our agreement.

21.	Child Protection
If you have a concern about a child who may be at risk of abuse or neglect, it is essential that these concerns are acted upon. In all cases, your primary responsibility is to the child or children concerned. All MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD staff working within the organisations, which are suspicious that abuse has occurred or is likely to occur, are responsible for ensuring that they are familiar with the policies and

procedures set out to safeguard children, without delay. This responsibility is shared with the managers on duty and other agencies.

As part of your mandatory training you are required to attend Safeguarding Children Level 2, if you work in certain areas this must be Level 3. e.g.. With Children or in A&E

Definitions:
Child Protection
Is a subset of safeguarding and promoting welfare. This refers to the activity, which is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering or at risk of suffering significant harm.
Child Abuse
Abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm or by failing to act to prevent harm. Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting; by those known to them or, more rarely, by a stranger.
They may be abused by an adult or adults or another child or children. [Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006DOH)

Please ensure you familiarise yourself with the local Child Protection policies at each new placement your start.

You must notify MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD immediately if you are subject to any Child Protection Investigation or proceedings.

22.	Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults
A vulnerable adult is a person aged 18 years or over who may be unable to take care of themselves, protect themselves from harm or from being exploited. A person may also be vulnerable because of a temporary illness or difficulty. If you have any concerns about the abuse of a vulnerable adult, you should raise this to your line manager in line with local Adult Protection protocols.

Allegations of Abuse or Neglect
MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD will treat allegations of Abuse or Neglect very seriously. Should we receive an allegation of this nature against you, we will be unable to offer you work until the investigation is concluded. If the allegation is upheld it may result in a referral to the Professional body, Police and to the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

You must notify immediately if you are subject to any Adult Protection Investigation or proceedings. These will be handled in a confidential manner.

23.	Complaint Handling
24.	
Patients who complain about the care or treatment they have received have a right to expect a prompt, open, constructive and honest response including an explanation and, if appropriate, an apology. You must not allow a patient's complaint to affect adversely the care or treatment you provide or arrange. We will invoke our complaints process if we have received any concerns regarding your practice from any of our clients.

You will be informed within 36 hours of our receiving the complaint. This will be via Telephone or email. Our expectation is that you fully co-operate with our complaints process, in line with the code of conduct from your professional registration.

Raising a Complaint
If you wish to make a complaint about any aspect of our service or about the way you have been treated whilst on assignment, please notify your Recruitment Consultant in the first instance who will attempt to resolve your complaint informally and verbally.

You may be asked to put your complaint in writing.

Please provide full details of the nature of your complaint, how you have been affected and an indication of the outcome you would expect.

A full copy of the Complaints Procedure is available upon request.

Whistle-Blowing
In some circumstances you may find you have serious concerns about what is happening around you and feel that patient care may be under threat, or that you become aware of fraud, illegal or unethical behaviour.

If you believe that allowing the situation to continue is likely to harm others, please raise your concerns immediately with the Compliance Officer or Clinical Lead. This could also be the line manager for any given assignment.

MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD commits to ensuring you are listened to without fear of detriment and will confirm whether your concerns will be handled under our Whistle-Blowing procedure or via our Complaints Procedure.
If, following an investigation, your concerns are not upheld, you will be protected under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, so long as your actions were not malicious.
You will be asked to provide information either verbally or in writing, this will be treated in confidence

Lone working (e.g.. Working in the Community)
Employers have responsibility for the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees. These responsibilities cannot be transferred to any other person, including those people who work alone. It is the employer's duty to assess risks to lone workers and take steps to avoid or control risks where necessary
Employees have responsibilities to take reasonable care of themselves and other people affected by their work activities and to co-operate with their employers in meeting their legal obligations. Lone workers are those who work by themselves without close or direct supervision.
Some examples of lone workers are:
•	People working alone in premises, e.g. small clinics.
•	People working outside normal hours,
•	Mobile workers working away from their fixed base
•	Service workers, e.g. postal staff, social workers, doctors, district nurses and similar professionals visiting domestic and commercial premises

Procedures are put in place by our clients to ensure the safety of our lone workers: These may include:
•	Supervisors periodically visiting and observing people working alone.
•	Regular contact between the lone worker and supervisor, using either mobile phones, telephone, radios or email
•	Alarms/Bleep/Radios which operate if specific signals are not received periodically from the lone worker
•	Other devices designed to raise the alarm in an emergency; these can be operated manually or automatically by the absence of activity.
•	Checks to ensure a lone worker has returned to their base or home once their task is completed.
Please speak to your line manager at each new place of work to find out the necessary procedures for lone working.

25.	AWR
The Agency Workers Regulations came into force on 1st October 2011 (in England, Scotland and Wales; from 1st December 2011 in Northern Ireland). The AWR applies to all ‘agency workers’ undertaking temporary work and gives them the same basic working and employment conditions they would have received if they had been employed directly by the end client in the same job (when compared to a
‘comparable’ permanent employee of the client. A ‘comparable’ worker is a directly employed member of staff who does similar, although not necessarily the same, type of work and generally at
the same location. If there is no comparable worker there is no entitlement to equal treatment). In brief the AWR says that:
•	If you are an ‘Agency Worker’ you have a right, after 12 weeks service with a client / end- hirer (these 12 weeks do not have to be continuous), to equal pay and equal working hours,
•	
rest breaks and holiday provisions and the right to paid time off for ante-natal
appointments, that a ‘comparable’ permanent employee of your client receives.
•	Agency Workers also have ‘Day 1’ rights – to be told of any relevant vacancies at the client’s organisation during their assignment; the right to be treated no less favourably than a comparable worker in relation to collective facilities and amenities at the hirers workplace; and the right not to suffer any detriment or dismissal for asserting their rights under these Regulations.
MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD ensures that a robust AWR process is in place for our workers and clear flagging process is set out to notify 12 week qualifying period.

All agency workers are entitled to AWR Day 1 Rights, which include (but are not limited to);
•	A canteen or other similar facilities
•	A workplace crèche
•	transport services (e.g. in this context, local pick up and drop offs, transport between sites –
but not company car allowances or season ticket loans)
•	Toilets/Shower Facilities
•	Staff Common Room
•	Waiting Room
•	Mother and Baby room
•	Prayer room
This is not intended to extend to all benefits which a hirer might provide to directly recruited workers or employees; rather, it applies to collective facilities provided by the hirer either to workers or employees as a whole or to particular groups of workers or employees.

Information about Day 1 rights are provided to the worker within the Contract of Services. Workers will need to sign and date this item to confirm that they agree with the terms and conditions.
As almost all the times workers will get paid more per hour from Day 1 when compared to their peers at work place it may be practically not so relevant to put checks on this. However there remains a theoretical possibility and also in order to comply with AWR legislation necessary checks are in place to make sure Parity Pay is monitored.

Accrual of 12 week qualifying period
The qualifying period is not retrospective; an agency worker will only start to accrue the 12 weeks qualifying period after the Regulations come into force on 1 October 2011 even if the assignment started before 1 October 2011. An agency worker can qualify for equal treatment after 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer, regardless of whether they have been supplied by more than one agency over the course of that period of time. This means that even if the agency worker has just joined a particular MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD, he or she may already have completed the qualifying period in relation to a particular role with a hirer, or at least have accrued a number of weeks towards completing it. In order to ensure that the agency worker receives their correct entitlement, MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD will ask

the agency worker for their up to date work history - the aim being to ensure that they have the correct information.

26.	Contacting Us
MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD operates a 24/7 service. Please call the office phone number and you will be redirected to the on call team if your query is out of hours. Cancellations and lateness must always be reported by phone. They will not be accepted by email or SMS.
27.	Key Facts Page
Under the governments good work plan, all Temporary Workers will be provided with a One Page document to ensure transparency in the details of their agency work.
This document will follow the below template:

Type of Contract – PAYE/Umbrella (depending on your choice). Hourly Pay Rate Minimum Rate of Pay –
Payment method – Weekly in arrears – PAYE or Umbrella (depending on your choice) Payment Company – MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD or Umbrella name – depending on your choice
Deductions or fees – None as standard. Accommodation may be included here if agreed with your consultant
Example of Take home pay –
e.g.. Assuming MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD is your main employer and receives your tax free allowance. You work 40 hours in a week after breaks.
You are paid £28.00/hour
You contribute 2% to your pension Weekly pay - £1120
Pension deduction - £16.83 Taxable Income - £862.78 Tax - £200.88
National Insurance - £96.63
TAKE HOME PAY - £805.66

28.	IR35
29.	
IR35 is the United Kingdom's anti-avoidance tax legislation designed to tax 'disguised' employment at a rate similar to employment.
Under IR35, if you fall under the Direction, Supervision or Control of the end client, then you should be paid and treated as if you were a member of substantive staff. This includes the payment of PAYE taxation.
All placements with MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD, unless specifically designated otherwise by the end client, will be deemed to be inside IR35.
This means that you will be paid PAYE with all tax, NI and other deductions taken at source. Your details will be sent to HMRC as part of our intermediary reporting obligations
If you work for an Umbrella Company they must do the same.
If you work for a limited company, the work that you undertake must be paid to you via a HMRC Complaint PAYE payroll with all deductions and intermediary reporting. It is MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD’s advice that you do not work in this manner.
The method that provides the best take home, security and ease is to work directly for MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD on a PAYE model.

Handbook Declaration

Thank you for taking the time to read our employee handbook, we are very pleased to have you representing MEDICARE SUPPORT & HOUSING LTD
Within this handbook we have outlined our expectations of your conduct and practice. Please sign and return this page to us, to signify that you are in agreement:

Please email this page to your consultant. Print name:
Signature:

Date: