An NHS staffing scheme which was set up during the pandemic has already saved more than £6m in staffing costs and filled over 171,000 shift hours.
Led by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the North West Doctors in Training Collaborative Bank (NWCB) is the largest collaborative staff bank in the UK with 24 trusts across the North West now a part of the project.
The initiative is helping the NHS reduce its reliance on external staffing agencies with around £1.2m worth of agency costs saved to date; all whilst enabling local trusts to remain agile in the face of surging demand and increased pressure.
The NWCB provides a platform through which shifts can be advertised to the 6,000 clinical trainees across the region, affording staff the ability to work safely and flexibly throughout the region without the need for unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy.
With 95% of trainees being onboarded to the bank within 72 hours, allowing staff to work this way gives them a better training programme, enriching their clinical experience and helping patients get seen as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Catherine Lothian, Assistant Head of HR at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “As the North West Collaborative Bank has grown over the past two years, all of the teams at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust are excited to see its impact similarly flourish.
“We’re so proud to see our work with [provider] and our colleagues across the North West delivering genuine transformation and benefits for our clinical trainees and workforce management teams. This collaboration is helping to unlock increased flexibility for staff and providing managers with greater predictability and workforce oversight.”
