NHS Professionals works with over 100 NHS Trusts and healthcare organisations across the country, putting people in places to care. Below, you'll be able to explore the different real-world workforce solutions we continue to provide to support patient care.
We worked with the Trust to devise a solution which enabled the spouses of international nurses to have their own pathway into an NHS career through our Healthcare Support Worker Development (HCSWD) programme.
We exceeded our target to recruit 250 whole time equivalent call handlers. Our recruitment campaign generated over 24,000 applications of which 299 of these call handlers were successfully appointed. Our work on this bespoke recruitment campaign has led individual Trusts to continue collaborating with NHS Professionals to recruit additional roles for the future.
Starting in December 2020, NHS Professionals implemented a brand new support staff group into University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust to support patient experience during the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NHS Professionals International forged a new partnership with Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust to support their Registered Mental Health Nurse needs. Due to geography, the Trust faced a significant challenge when it came to sourcing this workforce. As a result, this led to Lancashire and South Cumbria becoming the first Trust to recruit international Registered Mental Health Nurses at scale.
NHS Professionals International (NHSPI) was appointed to recruit and deliver over 600 nurses by December 2021 and also help the collaboration form successful OSCE training hubs. NHS Professionals International exceeds targets for international nurse recruitment across the Pan-Mersey collaborative.
In the spring of 2021, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) faced a recruitment challenge when it came to nursing, requiring approximately 40 posts to be filled.
Building a positive and open working relationship with the Trust, NHSPI worked flexibly to navigate the unique challenge of interview panel availability over the busy winter period, in order to meet the target required. Additionally, an unprecedented problem arose as the Ukrainian crisis developed in early 2022, causing the priority visa service to be suspended which increased processing times.
NHS Professionals International started working with Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in 2019. Despite the world renowned reputation of the Trust, they were not able to meet their recruitment requirements from the UK market.
In 2016, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) were experiencing a high vacancy rate, with over 380 posts that they could not fill locally. The vacancies remained in spite of their strong reputation and a rating of ‘Good’ from the Care Quality Commission. In order to strengthen their recruitment, the Trust approached NHSP International to source nurses from the Philippines.
After working with the Trust since 2016, NHSP International now routinely deliver 20 nurses a month from the Philippines. This stable programme enables the Trust to keep vacancies at a manageable level.
Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust began their partnership with NHSP International in August 2016, when the Trust had over 200 registered nurse vacancies. In July 2018, the trust merged with neighbouring Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust to form East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust – becoming the largest NHS organisation in the region.
NHS Professionals achieved a 100% conversion in agency hours to Bank by creating an Enhanced Care Pool Ward staffed by graduates of our Patient Safety Support Worker (PSSW) Programme, which trains people to care for vulnerable patients.
In June 2023, we improved overall Bank fill for nurses by 10%, compared to June 2022. This improvement translated into a reduction in agency use of over 3% for qualified nurses, helping the Trust reach the 3.7% national agency spend reduction target.
Using the average hourly cost of an agency shift at the Trust, NHS Professionals achieved a saving of more than £215,000 over a 12 month period.
NHS Professionals (NHSP) were tasked with reducing excessive agency spend within the Trust and managing the internal staffing bank for Nursing and Midwifery, Admin and Clerical, and Allied Health Professionals (Operating Department Practitioners) to grow the number of bank members, and to make it more efficient.
In August 2022, Somerset joined forces with NHS Professionals to reduce its agency usage for Registered and Unregistered Nurses, and to create a flexible worker pool to take precedent over agency shifts.
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust currently provides the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK and serves a local population of 1.3 million people. In May 2020, NHS Professionals launched a campaign to work with the Trust to remove Healthcare Support Worker (HCSW) agency use.
The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust is the main provider of hospital and adult community services in the West Midlands area with three main hospital sites and over 40 community centers across the borough. NHS Professionals formed an agency migration partnership in January 2023 with The Dudley Group to help it reduce agency spend by 3.7% in line with NHSE’s latest guidance. Using our pioneering NHS.
As with all NHS Trusts during the pandemic, Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust experienced severe pressures surrounding their workforce supply agency usage in Nursing and Midwifery.
With NHS Professionals’ (NHSP) support and expertise, the Trust wanted to grow their Bank Members, operate more efficiently, and ultimately, completely remove their reliance on external agencies which as of August 2018 was 22% of shift demand.
As with all NHS Trusts during the pandemic, Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust experienced severe pressures surrounding their workforce supply agency usage in Nursing and Midwifery.
Having worked with the Trust since 2014, NHS Professionals (NHSP) have been on a continuous mission to ensure safe, effective staffing, excellent patient care and exceptional value for the Trust.
Prior to engaging with NHSP in 2018, the nursing bank at the Trust was operated by a small internal team that reported through operations. Bank recruitment was inconsistent, compliance with necessary training requirements wasn’t well understood and the investigation of complaints and incidents wasn’t robust. The Trust spend on expensive agency staff was very high, operated at ward level and largely invisible, apart from the large invoices.
The trust has worked towards a 0% HCSW vacancy rate. From April 2021 to July 2023, we supplied 63 healthcare support workers to the Trust, delivering a total of 44,472 hours of care. Around 20 have gone on to be employed at the Trust on a substantive basis.
After a competitive procurement exercise in 2022, the NHS Professionals Academy was awarded phase one provision of a leadership course for University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.
Before the North West Client User Group was created, recruitment was often siloed amongst individual Trusts, not necessarily taking advantage of collaborative working, group leverage or associated smarter working and cost efficiencies.
Email our workforce specialists to arrange a call or meeting to see how we can help you: Fay Toms - Fay.Toms@nhsprofessionals.nhs.uk. If you are an agency looking to partner with NHS Professionals then for International Nursing supply email anna.svedaite@nhsprofessionals.nhs.uk.
If you're interested in any additional services please email our Senior Solution Team: Morgan Warrilow – Morgan.Warrilow@nhsprofessionals.nhs.uk