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Registration & compliance
At Bluestones Medical, we put our candidates first. We look out for them, offer them fantastic pay rates and support them to facilitate the work-life balance they’ve always wanted. In turn, they can enjoy both their personal and professional lives, whilst being given the opportunity to develop and progress in their careers. Find out more about our lucrative benefits scheme HERE.
As we are an NHS Framework agency, there is a certain level of compliance we must adhere to. Here is a list of the main documents we will require from you and examples of what you can use as proof:
Identification
- Passport / Birth Certificate
- Driving licence
- Proof of address
- Change of name (marriage certificate, deed poll if any documents are in any other name)
Professional Qualification
- Degree certificate
National Insurance Number
- P60/P45
- Red and Blue card
- Official HMRC/GOV letter which includes your National Insurance Number
Right to Work
- Passport
- Birth Certificate
- Residency Permit
- If you have been out of the country for more than 6 months in the last 5 years – an overseas police check is required
Professional Registration
- Statement of Entry or HCPC registration letter
DBS
- Green DBS certificate
Must be child and adult enhanced check which is registered on the update service. If you do not have a DBS in place, please advise and we will send you the link to apply for a new check.
Mandatory E-Learning – Annual
- ESR mandatory training you have completed with your trust
Please ensure your name, module name, start date of the module and end date of the module are visible in order to be legible. If you do not have this, we can assign you the courses through Healthier Business, our OH provider.
CV
Your CV must be dated from and including high school until present day. Please ensure all education places and dates are included along with all work history. Please also account for any gaps within your CV if any.
ID Badge
Please upload a picture of yourself you would like to use for your ID badge.
Covid-19 Vaccinations
If you have been vaccinated against covid-19 please upload the covid pass.
We aim to have you fully compliant and fit for work in as little as 2 weeks!
There is very little in the onboarding process that is not in your control, but our Candidate Development Team will work with you to get you through the process as quickly as possible.
Our top tips for a quick registration:
- Keep in contact – We’ll be on hand to support you throughout the entire process. Keep your eyes peeled for emails/WhatsApps from us and be sure to give us a call if you’re stuck with anything at all.
- Complete sections in any order – You may not always have all the documents you need to hand, so just fill out what you can and come back to the rest.
- Keep going – we understand that our onboarding process is rigourous. However, this is essential to ensure we can keep our status as an on-framework agency. Our CDT team will do everything they can to support you and have even guided someone through the entire process and got them out working with us in just 4 DAYS!
If you don’t have a Child and Adult cleared DBS certificate, the Candidate Development Team will support you to apply for a new one. This can take a little while to process, so it will be one of the first things we do.
The cost is £49.60 and once you receive your certificate in the post, its can be registered on the update service within 30 days of the certificate issue date at a cost of £13 per year. Your certificate will then be transferrable.
Click HERE to be taken to the DBS update service.
Mandatory training is a compliance requirement. If you have evidence of any mandatory training you have completed, we’ll check it out and ensure it’s legible.
If it’s not, don’t worry, we’ll simply get you booked on one of our mandatory training sessions with our Clinical Manager ASAP.
We have a fabulous team who looks after our candidates on-going compliance. Their role is to ensure that every one of our candidates compliance remains up-to-date. This is imperative to ensure we can hold the status of an on-framework agency.
Please see below list of compliance documents that require updating during your employment with us:
- Mandatory training – all assigned modules are completed annually
- Fitness to practice – is updated annually
- DBS – is valid for 1 year unless is added on an update service
- Right To Work – evidence of valid RTW document is kept on file and updated when expired
- Pin checks and revalidation – depending on framework pin checks are completed monthly or quarterly
- ID badge – re-issued annually
- Identification – copies of correct identification is kept on file and updated if any changes i.e. change of name or address
- CV – copy of CV is kept on file and updated annually
- References – are updated annually
- Business car insurance (if applicable) – updated when expired
- Change of payment method – terms and conditions to be signed when changing to PAYE and if applicable new KID document is issued
You will be interviewed by a member of our clinical team (find out more about them HERE). They’re extremely friendly and will make you feel welcome and at ease. If you live close enough to our Chester office, you’ll be invited to come in for a face-to-face interview. If not, the interview will take place via Teams.
The purpose of the interview is not only to see if you’re the right fit for us, but for you to see if we’re the right agency for you, so we encourage you to ask plenty of questions too.
Absolutely! Appraisals and revalidation are both extremely important when it comes to your professional development. Therefore, our clinical team is on hand to ensure you receive regular appraisals and offer you 1-2-1 revalidation support if you need it. They can also discuss your reflective practices with you and act as your confirmer.
Payroll
Please ensure that timesheets you wish to be processed for the following week are sent to us no later than 11am on the Monday of the week you wish to be paid. We appreciate that delays can occur that may prevent you from doing this but please try to stick to the deadline to avoid delays to our payroll process.
- Timesheets received before 9.30am on Monday – paid by 4pm the same day
- Timesheets received before 9.30am on Tuesday – paid by 4pm on Wednesday
- Timesheets received before 9.30am on Thursday – paid by 4pm on Friday
Our processing days for Rapid Pay are: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. If you want to have a shift processed under our Rapid Pay program, please ensure you put the words “Rapid Pay” in the subject of your email so we can easily identify it.
If you are using an umbrella company for payment, and choose to use our Rapid Pay program, we would recommend you speaking to them to confirm fees and how this would affect the tax you pay weekly.
Check out our Rapid Pay (Umbrella) fact sheet HERE
- Timesheets received before 9.30am on Monday – Money available to claim from 10am Monday to 10am Tuesday
- Timesheets received before 9.30am on Tuesday- Money available to claim from 10am Tuesday to 10am Wednesday
- Timesheets received before 9.30am on Thursday -Money available to claim from 10am Thursday to 10am Friday
Please note: As a PAYE candidate, only 50% of your gross pay will be available for you to claim during this time. We allow a 50% buffer to ensure you have enough money remaining to pay the correct amount of tax, national insurance and any other deductions agreed with HMRC.
You must also have the “Access Early Pay” app set up and registered on your device of choosing.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FROM APP STORE
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FROM GOOGLE STORE
Any withdrawal of funds for Rapid Pay with PAYE is subject to a £2.75 fee (paid to the company in control of the app, not Bluestones Medical). Any unclaimed funds in the “Access Early Pay” app after 2pm will be transferred to your standard weekly pay the following week.
Check out our Rapid Pay (PAYE) fact sheet HERE
Here is what you can expect to claim back per mile from the following clients:
- NHSP – 44p per mile
- Virgin Care – 45p per mile
- Merseycare – 56p per mile
- Bridgewater – 56p per mile
As an agency worker, you have two options when considering how you want to get paid: using a nominated Umbrella company to handle your weekly payments, or being paid by Bluestones Medical
An Umbrella company is an external partner, that acts as your sole employer. This means, Bluestones Medical pay the umbrella company for your work, who in turn deduct all contributions for employee and employer PAYE and NI, and then pay you your weekly pay with the remaining balance. If you are using more than one agency, then being paid by an umbrella company may suit you more. There is usually a weekly fee for using their service. Any payment queries are arranged between you and the Umbrella company, not with Bluestones Medical.
When paid directly by Bluestones Medical, we are your employer and we are solely responsible for how you are paid. We pay you a straight rate of pay, that will appear on your pay slip and there is no fee for using this weekly service.
You may compare Umbrella rates of pay against standard PAYE rates of pay and notice that PAYE is lower, however a higher rate of pay is paid to Umbrella companies to cover their business costs outlined above.
We work closely with our Umbrella partners to ensure full FCSC compliance is reviewed regularly.
IR35 is a set of tax laws which are designed to ensure all workers in the public sector are paying the correct amount of tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC). There are a series of tests used by clients, to determine the employment status of contractors working through limited companies/personal service companies (PSCs).
As of 6 April 2021, further changes will come into force, which will include mid and large-sized private sector clients, so if you are planning to work in either the public or private sector after this time, IR35 will apply to all PSC workers.
For more information on IR35, any upcoming legislative changes, and how they could impact you, please click here.
If your payroll query has not been answered, you can email payroll@bluestonesmedical.co.uk and a member of the team will get back to you as soon as they can.
Our tax system uses the week ending date of the timesheet for tax purposes, not the week processed. So, if you hold back timesheets, our system will use the week-ending date of the timesheet for your tax – you will pay the same tax regardless.
You can be on a cumulative or non-cumulative tax code. Non-cumulative codes can be identifies as having an M1 or X next to your tax code. Your earning would always be taxed as if you are earning within the first month of the tax year. On a cumulative code, all overpayments and underpayments of tax will be rectified in ‘real time’ via the payroll.
Your tax code is given to us as an instruction from HMRC.
We cannot change a candidates’ tax code without written confirmation of the correct code from HMRC.
Bluestones Scheduler
You can download Bluestones Scheduler for free from the App Store or the Google Play Store.
For more support on using Bluestones Scheduler, check out our user guide.
Check out our Bluestones Scheduler user guide for more information.
You can find ‘how to’ videos on using Bluestones Scheduler by checking out our user guide.
Alternatively, you can speak to your consultant and they will be happy to support you and answer any questions you may have.
Bluestones Scheduler allows you to be in control of your working life.
- View your processed timesheets
- Search for specific shifts in specific locations/Trusts
- Update your availability allowing you to secure the shifts you want before anyone else
- Easily upload and view your compliance documents
- View your holiday entitlement
Check out the Bluestones Scheduler user guide for more information
Bluestones Scheduler has been built based on the feedback and recommendations of our team of Nurses and other Healthcare Professionals. They spoke and we listened, and as a result we have an app that will enhance the lives of busy, on-the-go individuals like you.
Bluestones Scheduler allows you to be in control of your working life.
For more information, check out our user guide
If you have an issue with Bluestones Scheduler, you should make your consultant aware of this ASAP. They will be able to liaise with our Business Systems Manager to get the issue fixed as quickly as possible.
Referring a friend
Effective 01/02/2022
To be eligible to receive our referral bonus, you must currently be working for Bluestones Medical.
How to claim your bonus
Please fill out the above ‘refer and friend’ form in full. You and your referral will need to contact us / your consultant as soon as the required criteria has been met (see below)
General terms
- It is your responsibility to ensure that you provide us will correct and relevant information when filling out our referral form.
- Failure to provide the correct information at the point of referral will make you and your referral ineligible to receive the bonus.
- Both you and your referral must have worked at least 3 shifts before you are eligible for the bonus.
- Both you and your referral must have at least 1 month of your desired work pattern shifts booked in at the time of referral payment in order to qualify.
- We pay the £300 referral fee out for anyone that becomes a full-time worker for us. This is anyone who works 3+ shifts per week for us on a regular basis. You can split the fee in half with your referral if you wish.
- We pay a £200 referral fee out for anyone that becomes a part-time worker for us. This is anyone who works at least 1 shift per week for us on a regular basis. You can split the fee in half with your referral if you wish.
- We pay a £100 referral fee out for anyone that becomes an ad-hoc worker for us. This is anyone who picks up at least 1 shift per month for us on a regular basis. You can split the fee in half with your referral if you wish.
- The number of people you can refer to us is limitless.
- You cannot refer the same individual more than once. Each of your referrals must be different.
- Under the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018, you as the recommender confirm you understand that Bluestones Medical cannot release any information relating to a recommended candidate’s application, current registration status, or any other personal information except for confirmation of the number of shifts they have worked, for the purposes of confirming when your bonus will be paid.
- You cannot refer a friend without filling out our form. Payments will only be paid if we have this form on file.
- A recommended candidate’s application will be reviewed against our recruitment criteria to assess and ensure suitability. Any decision made on prospective applicants is at the sole discretion of Bluestones Medical, and as such, no payment will be due for referrals of candidates who do not meet our recruitment criteria or fail to successfully complete their registration with us.
- You can only recommend a healthcare professional who HAS NOT worked for Bluestones Medical.
- All bonus payments are subject to tax deduction. Bonus payments are non-transferable.
- You and your referral must be in a compliant status with Bluestones Medical to receive your payments. Should your compliance lapse or expire prior to referral payments being made, you will not be eligible for payment.
Disclaimer
- Bluestones Medical reserves the right to vary the terms and conditions of this scheme at their absolute discretion.
- Bluestones Medical reserves the right to withdraw this scheme at any time and is under no obligation to inform candidates, introduce a replacement scheme or offer compensation.
- Bluestones Medical reserves the right to vary the terms and conditions of this scheme at its absolute discretion.
Making a complaint
Bluestones Medical takes complaints extremely seriously. Your first point of call should always be your consultant or their line manager. However, if you are not satisfied with their response to your complaint, you can make a written complaint by clicking HERE and it will be dealt with accordingly.
