Workforce technology on a mission to support NHS staff wellbeing (Part 1)
Workforce technology has tremendous potential to streamline and support processes within the NHS, increasing operational efficiency and improving service delivery. However within that, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to how workforce technology can also support staff wellbeing.
The NHS is experiencing mounting pressure, which not only disrupts operations and patients continuity of care, but also places a heavy burden on the NHS workforce. This burden has a detrimental effect on their mental health and morale, engagement, job satisfaction, and makes it hard for the NHS to retain and support their professional growth.
An analysis by the Nuffield Trust also showed that over 40,000 have walked away from the NHS in 2021 alone; that is the equivalent of one in nine of the workforce. Furthermore, according to recent data from Lucina Rolewicz, a researcher at the institution, the number of NHS staff leaving their role due to work-life balance is over 4.2x higher now than it was 10 years ago. This is also supported by another recent survey by the Medical Defence Union (MDU), which demonstrated that more than 40% of NHS staff members plan to quit or retire from the NHS within the next 5 years as a result of workplace pressure. This data is a sombre illustration of the need to address the underlying systemic challenges that lead to overworking and staff burnout. And whereas, there is no one single solution that will solve the pressures our healthcare system is facing now, as it will require a long-term multidisciplinary approach, one part of the equation is the implementation of the right workforce technology, which brings in a range of benefits that can positively impact the wellbeing of NHS staff.
In conversations with various NHS staff members across all levels, similar challenges have been identified from staff and people management teams and healthcare professionals. For example:
Staff and people management teams don’t have an accurate and long-term view of needs and therefore are pressured to fill shifts often against stressful timelines to deliver on patient outcomes:
Low shift fill rates/ vacant shifts and high reliance of staffing teams on retrospective shift filling
High agency reliance and spend
Healthcare professionals often don’t have visibility of available shifts or a robust process or system to easily engage with bank work email traffic, arbitrary bleeps and shoulder taps:
Frustration and pressure to fill in shifts
Compromised work/life balance
Burnout
It’s been proven that empowering staff with the right level of flexibility for them around decisions to do with their working life results in higher levels of job satisfaction, commitment and increased discretionary effort compared to those who don’t have flexibility. The former also have reduced absence rates, as flexibility allows them to better manage disability, chronic health conditions, mental health and stress, and other life responsibilities and goals. We also know that a workforce which is more satisfied with their day-to-day job improves patient quality, experience, and productivity rates (Royal College of Physicians, 2019). This highlights the need for more flexible, transparent, and collaborative systems. Therefore, with our NHS partners, we are on a mission to address workforce challenges and improve the wellbeing of the NHS workforce.
/ What can the right staff bank management software do to help?
There is a need to maximise the workforce to ensure we have suitable workforce numbers with an expansive skill mix that can meet the service requirements. To this extent, open, transparent technology can play a valuable role linking up NHS Trusts with a wide range of workforce gaps. It can help a Trust identify a much wider range of potential temporary staff compared to using a closed software system, and it enables temporary staff to quickly and easily identify what shifts might be available.
At Locum’s Nest, we are advocates for the Open Bank Model as it aligns with our ethos of collaboration and transparency.
So how can workforce technology solutions with an open bank model support your staff wellbeing?
/ Simplifying processes = Less admin burden and happier teams
One of the ways that workforce technology can support staff wellbeing is by reducing the administrative burden on employees. Automated processes such as time and attendance tracking, shift scheduling, and payroll processing can help to alleviate the stress that comes with manual and time-consuming tasks. This not only saves staff time, but it also frees up mental energy for them to focus on their primary responsibilities of providing care to patients.
For example, replacing paper-based timesheet processes by digital e-timesheets where both staffing teams and healthcare professionals could track throughout the payroll process. This provides peace of mind for healthcare professionals and drastically reduces pay queries for admin teams. Staff can get paid quicker, and can manage their lives and expenses. This produces a reliable auditable trail. By streamline processes across organisation and departments, the less reliance on disparate systems to track things down.
/ Enhanced planning = Less bleeps and last minute requests
Supporting staffing teams using easily accessible and relevant real-time data can empower them with more accurate workforce insights and equip them to manage shifts more effectively and ahead of time. This can lead to a reduction in bleeps and last minute requests for healthcare professionals. This shifts practices from reactive to proactive and planned for everyone.
For example, this has been shown to support temporary staffing teams by reducing the number of retrospective shifts at a Trust. This not only reduces the pressure on healthcare professionals, but also allows them to have a better understanding and control over shift planning. Improved planning can also lead to a reduction in constant bombardment and uncertainty, as well as increase transparency in the process.
/ Increased communication and transparency = Better relationships/trust
Enhancing the relationship between healthcare professionals and staffing teams can be accomplished by promoting transparency, which not only promotes trust but also a shared understanding of each other's needs. Clear information regarding open shifts and compensation is also critical for maintaining a dedicated workforce. Allowing organisations themselves to set up their own standardised rates and rate-escalation processes ensures that both the clinicians and the organisations are fully aware of the advertised rates. This is in keeping with policies applied across all public bodies where non-personal data is shared freely.
/ Support flexible working arrangements = Engaged and autonomous staff
By allowing for increased flexibility and visibility of shifts among staffing teams and healthcare professionals, a level of control is given back to healthcare professionals to choose shifts that fit around their lives. This results in increased staff engagement within and across staffing departments. From speaking to staff members, implementing this approach has been shown to lead to a reduction in pressure to fill vacancies, enabling staff to take ownership of their work-life balance and apply for the shifts they want to cover rather than what they feel obligated to cover.
/ Fostering the power of collaboration = One NHS
By collaboration among different NHS organisations, departments can benefit from the expertise of healthcare professionals beyond their own Trust, as well as allowing current Trust healthcare professionals to work shifts in other places. This broadens the available shifts for staff across multiple organisations, providing them with new opportunities to expand their knowledge and develop expertise in different areas.
Through information held by the Digital Passport, such as compliance and GMC record, hospitals can enrol clinicians from neighbouring NHS organisations without a long lead time. This is made easily visible for HR teams and rota managers as a unique verification link, ensuring that HR compliance checks are completed instantly and allowing clinicians to join the staff bank quickly and without delay - reducing admin time and associated costs, whilst boosting shift fill rates.
Transparency and collaboration within the NHS have been shown to save money while still compensating clinicians for their hard work. This can be demonstrated by reviewing the data available within the Locum’s Nest system. We see a trend where organisations that join a collaborative bank see an increase in shift booking numbers from their own staff members.
Empowering staff members with more control and certainty is the key to this approach. Staff members using open technology know you are doing your best to fill those vacancies by broadcasting them to their wider professional community. This not only helps fill the vacancies, but also makes staff members feel like part of the solution and the process, rather than feeling like something that is happening to them without their involvement.
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Are you interested in learning more about how workforce technology can help support the wellness and wellbeing of NHS staff? Get in touch by booking a call with our team or contact meena@locumsnest.co.uk.