Healthcare People

This episode explores what motivates healthcare professionals to join the NHS Professionals Bank and the steps we are taking to maximise positive engagement with our 100,000+ Bank Members in the short, medium and long-term. Featuring Mel Simmonds, Director of Bank Member Engagement at NHS Professionals. Recorded May 2023 at Hertfordshire Podcast Studio. "You have to have multiple ways of understanding and motivating your workforce and recognize that we're not all the same, and we're all individuals and treat people as individuals. For us at NHS Professionals, we've created a very much multi-faceted engagement strategy because we recognize that what is appropriate and a driver for one, is completely different for somebody else."

NHS Professionals works with more than 300 locum doctors across the country – but why do doctors choose to locum and what kinds of support do they need from us and the trusts they work in? Former emergency care GP and NHS Professionals Medical Director Dr Helen McGill shares insights from her diverse career in medicine. Recorded April 2023 at Hertfordshire Podcast Studio.

In this episode we explore we how we can support nurses and midwives to enjoy long, healthy and flexible careers in care and look at new and more innovative routes into the profession. Featuring former consultant critical care nurse Juliette Cosgrove, Chief Nurse and Director of Clinical Governance at NHS Professionals. Recorded April 2023 at Hertfordshire Podcast Studio.

What workforce opportunities do integrated care systems create? How can mechanisms such as shared staff banks enable new and effective cross-system people collaborations? We explore the issues with Jon Waters, Client Solutions Director at NHS Professionals. “It's about getting it right for your workforce. There is such pressure on the NHS and broader health care workforce at the moment that offering that workforce to be deployed in a way that works for them, is a central question that will help inform better retention, engagement and patient output and therefore better results for a local healthcare body and a broader integrated care system.” Recorded January 2023 in Manchester with support from ⁠Bruntwood.⁠

We look at the NHS's international nursing and midwifery workforce and talk ethics, what great pastoral care looks like and the inspiring Displaced Talent Programme for skilled refugees. With Hadrien Kieffer, NHS Professionals’ Director of International Recruitment. “It’s important to have a diverse workforce within any organisation, not just for the NHS, because it brings more skills and different knowledge. And that is key because then people can learn from each other.” Recorded February 2023 in Manchester with support from ⁠Bruntwood.⁠

We explore the impact of rising patient demand on NHS trusts including the challenge of reducing agency spend and how task-led recruitment can boost capacity. Featuring Karla Boddy, Chief Customer Officer at NHS Professionals. “Every year, we go into process to forecast what we think the next year's demand may be, and in the last three, every year has outstripped the year before, exponentially. The demand that a Trust feels directly translates to demand and a requirement for more staff. It's not just more staff, it's more skilled and specific staff and more quickly.” Recorded February 2023 in Manchester with support from ⁠Bruntwood.⁠

How can we find new workforce capacity when demand is so high, at a price we can afford? We discuss the challenges and explore solutions including collaborative staff banks, new career pathways and controlling the agency bill. With Mike Ruddle, Chief Commercial Officer at NHS Professionals. “Retention is absolutely key if we're to grow the workforce and curb attrition. We've got to recognize that flexibility is key. That may require a change in culture. So if someone can only work six hours a week, let's make sure they're the best six hours the NHS can get from them and not be constrained by roster patterns or shift patterns that don't fit with them.” Recorded March 2023 at ⁠Herts Podcast Studio⁠ with sound engineer Alex Collins.

This bonus episode explores how the NHS Professionals award-winning managed service provider team can help Trusts deliver even better value for money on workforce and release precious extra ‘bandwidth’ with end-to-end temporary staffing support. Featuring Karla Boddy, Chief Customer Officer at NHS Professionals. “With a managed service provision, there are many things that make it successful. But the biggest thing that makes it successful is if the customer collaborates with us. This isn't about a supply chain - this is us working with you. This is our strategizing with you. This is us future-proofing your solution. This is us putting ourselves shoulder to shoulder with you to solve the staffing issues of your trust.” Recorded February 2023 in Manchester with support from Bruntwood.

We explore the latest developments in workforce technology including rosters and passporting, and discuss how AI and personalisation can improve the patient and staff experience. Featuring Dave Callow, NHS Professionals' Chief Information Officer. “Anything that gets between a clinician and the patient is arguably in the way. Paperwork is essential but it's not the reason we do the job, therefore anything we can do to make that simpler will give people more time to do the job they actually want to do. Patients are at the core of everything we do, and we need to give staff and our bank members the same experience. We've got to remember they are people.” Recorded March 2023 at ⁠⁠Herts Podcast Studio⁠⁠ with sound engineer Alex Collins.

How can we turn around the tide of so-called 'great resignations' we're seeing in the wake of the pandemic? NHS Professionals' Chief Executive Nicola McQueen reflects on the issue.