As the winter pressures period approaches, the NHS frontline again faces the well-known spike in demand for healthcare services, due to flu outbreaks, trips and falls, and the heightened risk to those with complex health conditions, particularly among the elderly.
To help you navigate these challenges, the NHS Workforce Alliance is here to offer support. While we understand that many of you already have robust steps in place, we’ve developed guidance to help local workforce teams and clinical leaders collaborate effectively to manage risks across local systems, should you require this additional support.
Plan strategically with job planning and e-rostering
- Make sure that rosters are prepared and shared with relevant departments well in advance of winter to aid effective planning.
- Address any gaps in staffing rosters and identify roles that are difficult to fill so they can be managed proactively.
- Establish a solid agency management process.
Optimise agency partnerships
- Create preferred supplier lists (PSL) to ensure access to local agencies that meet your staffing needs.
- Hold regular strategic meetings with suppliers to monitor their performance and ensure they are meeting key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Collaborate with us on the commercial management of agency suppliers, using the relevant rate cards to prevent unnecessary rate increases for nurses and doctors during peak demand periods.
Access support from the NHS Workforce Alliance
- If you are working with recruitment agencies, reach out to your local Alliance lead for support with planning.
- Utilise our new Clinical and Healthcare Staffing framework to access a wide range of capable suppliers who can offer differing ranges of temporary clinical grades across all staff groups including nursing, allied health professionals and social care staffing.
- Ensure that all compliance checks are in place before accepting candidate applications. While our audit programme, aligned to NHS Employment Check Standards, ensures our contracted agencies are compliant with recruitment practices to reduce patient risk, it is good practice for all NHS trusts to undertake their own due diligence. Read our due-diligence guidance for NHS trusts for more information.
- Verify that your suppliers are adhering to the NHS England price caps.
The Alliance is committed to supporting you every step of the way, helping you deliver high-quality care during the most challenging periods.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your local NHS Workforce Alliance team. Together we can get the right people in the right jobs, quickly and safely.