The app that keeps on winning!
Dr Nicholas Andreou,
Co-Founder at Locum’s Nest
For a company which is just three years old, winning a single award this year would have made me very proud. As we finish 2019, Locum’s Nest has won not just one award, but four. It’s not why we do what we do, but my god it feels good!
Staffing problems are not a new issue. When Ahmed and I started our medical degrees, we did so knowing the NHS was understaffed. What we didn’t realise was quite how much it would have an impact on us, the clinicians we worked with and our patients. Our first-hand experience and passion for the NHS is channelled into everything we do at Locum’s Nest. To be awarded ‘Company that has delivered the greatest benefit to the NHS’ by DigitalHealth.London felt almost as if we had come full circle: acknowledged for helping the institution that the app was set up to save was an amazing feeling!
The design of the app was always going to be a key factor to our success and we knew we had to design something that we believed doctors would engage with. I have always enjoyed tech and I knew my way around basic apps, but we needed to work with the best in the business to work out a way to ensure those time-stretched doctors I had witnessed on busy wards, would pick it up easily and quickly too. Having everything streamlined in one place to enhance the user experience was key. The UK App Awards recently awarded us with ‘Productivity App of the Year’ and it showed to us that the app’s design shines not just within the medical industry, but stands up against those who see the very best of app design day in day out. This is a huge testament to the team who work tirelessly to keep it working at its very best.
Our app and its innovation began in one hospital, we are now in 20 NHS Trusts; we will double again next year and we now also believe we can drive a system in which there is one NHS and one staff bank, thus driving true innovation unlike seen before within the NHS. This was recognised at The Drum/Major Player Awards where we took home the ‘Major Innovation’ award. For our work to be credited in one of the most prestigious marketing awards in the industry was a huge moment for Locum’s Nest and demonstrates just how much of an impact we can have on everyone who uses the NHS, not just those who directly use the app.
Lastly, to be invited to pitch amongst the most disruptive start-ups working on the future of public services at Pitch GovTech, the international and largest-ever startup pitch event in the industry, was a true honour. Governments around the globe have a huge responsibility to work harder and deliver more to their citizens and healthcare meaning technology services such as Locum’s Nest could go on to save not just UK services but European healthcare services €30bn per year. The thought is simply mind-blowing.
Winning awards is helpful. Being judged by peers as a ‘winner’ sits neatly beside the reduced spends we deliver to our clients and the improved outcomes they can deliver to patients. But they are clearly team awards and the award-winning work we do could not be completed without the people who work with us and support us. From those situated in our offices across the globe to our users, NHS Trusts, our supporting partners and within the NHS itself I offer one huge heartfelt thank-you. Thank-you for believing in us and supporting us – we are doing A Great Thing together!
For 2020, watch this space. With a pioneering Digital Collaborative Bank which we aim to grow to span the whole of the NHS, thus saving it £1bn, and a team of supporters behind us from doctors, HR professionals, medical directors to C-suites, we will continue to lead the way in changing the face of temporary work staff. Maybe we’ll win some more gongs along the way too.