The Digital Collaborative Bank: the biggest workforce coalition of NHS Trusts in the country

We are immensely proud to be launching The Digital Collaborative Bank, the NHS’ largest medical digital collaborative staff bank for doctors in partnership with 8 Acute NHS Trusts.

The Digital Collaborative Bank, which is powered by the Locum’s Nest proprietary technology, provides doctors with an advanced online platform to access shifts at all participating Trusts. The platform aims to create, for the first time, one national staffing pool across the whole of the NHS, and, in turn, save it £1 billion by 2023.

Together with our pioneering partner Trusts, we share a common vision of breaking down employment barriers for our doctors covering temporary shifts and aim to offer our communities the best possible care by ensuring every patient sees the right doctor at the right time. Our collaborative staff bank was initially a grassroots project led by Ashford & St Peter’s NHS FT and the Royal Surrey NHS FT which allowed doctors at both organisations to access and cross-cover vacant shifts.

“I am driven and passionate about my role as an NHS leader as well as specifically the leader of ASPH and I’m not concerned that the use of Locum’s Nest will enable my colleagues to work in other NHS Trusts, rather it gives me a sense of pride and unity with the rest of NHS.” 

— Suzanne Rankin, Chief Executive Officer,
Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS FT

Less than 18 months after its launch, the collaborative expanded to Hampshire Hospitals NHS FT, Salisbury NHS FT and Dorset County Hospital NHS FT forming the South England Collaborative. Following its proven success with estimated collective savings of £26 million in agency savings since launch, and with the recent addition of North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS FT and Poole Hospital NHS FT the newly named Digital Collaborative Bank now spans across 150 miles, includes 8 NHS Trusts sharing a pool of 4,500 doctors covering all specialties and grades filling on average 40,000 vacant shifts per year.

This model addresses some of the key issues raised in the NHS Long Term Plan and the NHS Interim People Plan, which acknowledges the scale of the challenge the health service is facing and sets out clear goals to recruit and retain more staff. We’ve established tech-enabled staff bank services to make shifts more visible by removing practical barriers to staff moving between organisations, with the ultimate aim of improving patient safety and continuity of care. 

The launch of The Digital Collaborative Bank is a significant moment in the history of the NHS. The power of this collaboration enables Trusts across the service to pool their individual staff banks, thereby creating a much larger pool of potential staff and revolutionising staffing nationwide

We initially set up Locum’s Nest for locums and Trusts to ensure more shifts were filled, more often and more efficiently. This led to time saved, money saved, and most importantly, outcomes improved for patients. With the help of our partner Trusts we soon realised that having a national pool of temporary staff was the logical next step in making even more shifts visible and removing practical barriers to staff moving between organisations.

It is a transparent way of working and absolutely the way forward!

Here’s to One NHS. One Staff Bank!