.svg)
The Challenge
Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust (NGH) relied heavily on agency locums to plug medical staffing rota gaps. Due to archaic methods of communication within the Trust, doctors were often not aware of how to book staff bank shifts, resulting in a high number of shifts being filled by costly agency workers at higher rates, costing on average £243 (54%) more than bank workers per shift.
The Solution
Patchwork Health worked with the Trust to promote a full-scale culture change within departments, to prioritise the use of their new digital staff bank rather than sending shifts straight to agency. Through the implementation of Patchwork’s tech-enabled staff bank service, the Trust streamlined its temporary staffing process, enabling departments to advertise shifts instantly across the Trust, and grew the staff bank both via internal and external recruitment.
Results
Staff bank growth
- 110% staff bank growth in 6 months
Increased bank fill rate & reduced agency usage
- Multiple agency locums converted to the internal staff bank
- Agency shift fill and the number of unfilled shifts reduced by 20%
Cost savings through agency avoidance
- £475,000 saved per annum due to increased bank usage and decreased agency usage – agency shifts were £243 (54%) more expensive than bank shifts per shift
