Developing a TempRE locum workforce
NHS Shetland is developing an agency direct employed temporary workforce across a varied and challenging geographic area, saving the healthcare service £175,488 in the first eight months.
NHS Shetland is developing an agency direct employed temporary workforce across a varied and challenging geographic area, saving the healthcare service £175,488 in the first eight months. As Liaison Workforce’s first TempRE client in Scotland, NHS Shetland’s six-month pilot of the TempRE workforce service for acute medical acted as proof of concept for Scottish health boards.
Saving the healthcare service £310,105 through the TempRE workforce service
Scope and Findings
NHS Shetland Health Board is based in the North East of Scotland and delivers health care to over 23,000 people across a large geographical region and faced multiple challenges:
- Needed to develop a temporary workforce engagement platform to widen the pool of locums and achieve greater visibility and control.
- Locum workers were not familiar with dispersed health service structure.
- Health Board was let down by alternative supplier who was unprepared for the geographical challenges in Shetland and had increased its’ fees outside of the scope of the tender.
Liaison Workforce’s Service Involved:
- Driving Productivity, Innovation and Compliance.
- Education and Training: End user training sessions/MI Reporting Portal – monitoring staff expenditure and usage.
- Conversion Success: 100% conversion rate through dialogue and education with locums and suppliers.
- Agency Arrangements: Single contract to manage all agencies. Reporting tools supported price and supplier controls and rate reductions.
- Financial Controls: Aligned system settings to the NHS Shetland’s establishment controls to accurately report on spend and missed savings.
- Compliance: Making sure that NHS Shetland complied with all applicable Scottish regulations and compliance requirements, covering National Services Scotland Framework, Employment Law and treatment of VAT.
Next Steps
We will be…
Continuing to assist the health board in growingits own bank.
TempRE’s management information showed us what was going wrong and gave us the evidence to push through a tough line on direct engagement. With the support of the Liaison Workforce team and the ongoing reporting provided, we have been able to take control of locum engagement and agency spending.
The first weekly report that showed we had achieved zero wasted medical locum spend was one of the best spreadsheets I have ever seen!
The first weekly report that showed we had achieved zero wasted medical locum spend was one of the best spreadsheets I have ever seen!
Dr Andy Morris
Chief Medical Officer, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
Business:
NHS Shetland
Challenge
Driving productivity, innovation and compliance
Solutions
TempRE