This literature review focuses on flexible resourcing of nursing staff in the National Health Service (NHS) through the three main types of temporary nursing staff; bank nurses, agency nurses and nurses provided through NHS Professionals. It also examines flexible working arrangements for permanent nurses within the NHS. The report considers:

• the levels and trends in the use of bank and agency nurses and nurses provided through NHS Professionals and the levels and trends in flexible working arrangements for substantive staff
• the profile of the temporary nursing workforce and the profile of permanent staff with flexible working arrangements
• the costs and benefits of using bank and agency nurses and flexible contracts
• the impact of bank and agency and flexible working arrangements on patient safety and patient care
• how an effective balance is determined between the use of the substantive and temporary nursing workforce
• potential areas for new primary research in order to address current knowledge gaps.

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The DWP’s IES trials provide increased support for Jobcentre Plus advisers to identify customers with skills gaps that form barriers to employment, and refer them to nextstep for support.

This report provides early evidence on how effectively the IES trials are working, from the perspective of Jobcentre Plus, nextstep, and customers. It is the interim report of the second year of the evaluation, which began in 2008. It focuses on the fourth round of qualitative fieldwork, during which researchers visited five IES trials districts and five districts operating Enhanced Joint Working (EJW). The findings build on the first year evaluation report.

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The Workboost Wales (WBW) pilot aimed to deliver free advice and support on occupational health, safety, absence and return-to-work issues to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across Wales. The pilot was a partnership between the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Welsh Assembly Government. It ran from 1 March 2008 until 31 March 2009.

This report explores the findings of the WBW evaluation that focuses on the processes by which WBW was delivered and does not include a formal impact assessment or cost-benefit analysis. The main evaluation activities consisted of the following:

• Analysis of management information data provided by WBW staff on how many SMEs used the pilot, what they used it for, and the costs of delivery.
• Semi-structured interviews with WBW pilot staff on the set-up, operation and progress of the pilot.
• A survey of employers on their views and experiences of using WBW, and the types of changes they made following contact with an adviser.
• User case studies, comprising semi-structured interviews with a WBW user, a linked adviser, and where possible, an employee from the relevant organisation.

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The research explores the impact on the policies, planning and behaviours of universities nearly four years after the introduction of new arrangements for student support in higher education (known as NSSA). It is set within the context of continued policy focus on increasing and widening participation, rising importance of university performance indicators in student choices, and a challenging economic climate. The research uses qualitative evidence collected from over 120 staff in 15 case studies across England.

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This research captures data on issues relating to the consultant practitioner role in clinical imaging. It explores their impact on service operations and service improvement, and hence their immediate impact on clinical imaging services at two National Health Service (NHS) trusts in England.

This report sets out:

• the methodology by which the materials and tools were designed
• an account of the procedure through which the evaluation research was conducted
• an account of the quantitative information obtained
• an account of the contextualising information obtained through the qualitative work, on the perceived value and local implementation facilitators and barriers
• a description of the performance impact/cost-benefits of changes to skill-mix and suggestions for the data required to model cost-benefits
• a concluding section making further recommendations based on the findings of the work undertaken to date.

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