Our Customer Solutions Leads: the people behind our NHS workforce technology
Despite an ecosystem of products, all with careful and excellent user-centric design, our 50+ partner NHS Trusts get so much more than an app to manage their workforce. We take a holistic and human-centred approach to solving NHS Trusts’ challenges, pain points and success stories, during and post-implementation, providing constant support in every way possible.
At the core of this approach is our Operations team who provide an incalculable amount of added value to our partner NHS Trusts, who have their very own Customer Solutions Lead (CSL); workforce specialists who help the Trust implement the solution and become a trusted advisor in order to deliver value during and post-implementation - throughout the lifecycle of the partnership.
We do things differently at Locum’s Nest; we don’t just implement technology and wave goodbye. Instead, we offer a service behind our technology nurtured by our people; a genuine place of care towards every Trust we work with, providing a bespoke approach to understanding their needs. In this article, we share 3 ways our Operations team bring added value:
1/ NHS experience
All our CSLs have had NHS experience, with a fantastic understanding of the current pressures facing the NHS and how to support the respective Trusts they work with. Each member has an average of 15 years NHS experience.
Get to know selected members of our Customer Solutions team:
A Senior Customer Solutions Lead, supporting numerous Trusts in implementing and using Locum’s Nest. Prior to joining Locum’s Nest Claire was working as an Emergency Department Rota Coordinator at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust. In fact, she was actually working there when the Trust decided to implement our workforce solutions – a new, at the time, solution aiming to help NHS Trust fill their vacancies and reduce their agency spend. Having been a Rota Coordinator at the time when her employer Trust was adopting new digital innovation that directly affected her day-to-day job, she is able to strongly empathise with her customers and offer hands-on advice and support.
A Senior Customer Solutions Lead renowned for managing complex operational projects, driving business process improvement and excellent stakeholder management. Among various things, she has led the implementation and ongoing operations of Locum’s Nest to support one of the largest mergers in the NHS at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust. Prior to Locum’s Nest, she worked as a Programme Manager, leading the implementation of software and business change within NHS Trusts, Health Boards and private healthcare businesses.
A Senior Customer Solutions Lead at Locum’s Nest with over 11 years of NHS experience, having spent time within the NHS service in Wales as an Implementation Consultant for Rostering and as a Benefits Realisation Lead. He then joined a leading software provider of Rostering Solutions where he spent 6 years as a Project Manager and then as a Customer Success Analyst. Jonathan uses his expertise and experience alongside an MBA and MSc in Human Resource Management. He is known for his exceptional customer support skills and always wants to go the extra mile for his customers.
A Customer Solutions Lead at Locum’s Nest since April 2020. Since joining, she has been supporting several NHS Trusts with her superb organisational skills and attention to detail. Prior to joining Locum’s Nest, she worked at the Norfolk & Norwich Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as the Singular Junior Doctor Rota Lead for the Trust and the direct manager for locum bookings. Her experience coupled with her expertise in the junior doctor contract allows her to provide hands-on support as well as expert advice to her customers.
2/ Sharing best practice
Our Operations team meet every morning for at least 30 minutes, equating to approximately 120 hours per year or 3 working weeks! This environment creates a close-knit communication bubble enabling them to fully understand how they have been supporting NHS Trusts and is the perfect platform to discuss current customer challenges and brainstorm solutions. Based on their range of experience and success they worked together to create a best practice guide - a helpful summary of meaningful advice and tips to maximise usage of the Locum’s Nest platform.
3/ Bespoke responses
Having a dedicated CSL means a range of stakeholders can feel comfortable knowing that when they reach out to Locum’s Nest, they are reaching out to a person that understands them and their current context most. This was highlighted by some of our partner Trusts:
“Having a named person to go means that we build a relationship and history which is easier to resolve issues without having to explain things from scratch each time. It also means that the buy-in from the rest of the organisation is easier and there is a belief that we are offered a service, not just another system.” - Leianne Waller, Head of Workforce Transformation at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
“I have found Claire, my main contact to be of tremendous help dealing with queries at all times of day and week including weekends” - Mandy, O&G Rota Manager at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
“This rollout would not have been successful had we not had Jonathan to support.” - Sophie Dilworth, Workforce Programme Lead at North Bristol NHS Trust
Here is what our Customer Solution Leads think on the matter:
Rhonda says quick responses are enabled by being an “extension to the Trust team”. She labels this as a vital part of her role, especially with North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust - who she has been building relationships with since joining us in 2020.
Jonathan mentioned that “being agile at all times” is key to reacting to forever-changing needs and challenges Trusts face. A recent example was at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where there was an original approach and plan to launch department by department. However, with the recent 3-day doctor strikes announced the Trust has requested they want all departments live using the Locum’s Nest system as soon as possible. Jonathan will be key to ensuring this happens, reacting to the Trust's requirements.
What do our partners say about the value our CSLs bring?
Recently, we reached out to stakeholders at NHS Trusts to learn more about the benefits they gain from having their own designated CSL. The following themes emerged:
> Being agile
We have always championed and advocated for flexibility within the NHS because we believe solutions should not treat workers as a series of spreadsheet outcomes and instead should better prioritise their well-being and work-life balance, empowering them in the process too. Although our technology enables this, it is backed up by our CSL team all being agile in personality meaning we can adapt to our customer's bespoke needs as no two Trusts are the same. It could be that a Trust has a plan at hand to launch in Orthopedic Surgery, but there could be a change in needs/demand for a variety of different reasons that would mean Urology should go live beforehand. Our CSL team is open to understanding changes in requirements, listening and coming up with new and evolving plans to suit the Trust's needs.
> Collaborative working
We are ramping up our collaborative efforts from our learnings from The Digital Collaborative Bank and have subsequently partnered with other NHS Trusts to form more collaboratives involving over 30 NHS Trusts:
All of this stems from shared learnings led by our Customer Solutions team who have years of experience working with collaborative staff banks. Best of all, for 1 extra shift a healthcare professional works collaboratively, they work an additional 3 at their own Trust - suiting NHS Trusts, hospital managers and clinicians. Our CSLs have worked with many NHS Trusts as part of different collaboratives, taking them through successful collaborative implementation and process evolution.
> Proactivity
“The proactive nature of approach such as liaising with the clinical departments, training and resolving any issues that may arise” is what one hospital manager responded when asked what she values most from her Customer Solutions Lead, Jonathan in this case. This comes from a want to improve NHS Trust workforce processes and not just provide the software - although the two go hand-in-hand.
The Locum’s Nest CSL team proactively:
Communicate to Trusts when new features become available that will help them address certain challenges and support them through implementation and change management. This involves a lot of time communicating and working with our product team
Identify areas where NHS Trusts may need more support e.g. strike days and propose how they can help.
> Performance data
The team produce regular reports for the Trusts they personally work with to discuss performance which helps come up with solutions to ongoing challenges in the present moment. Much of this comes from Locum’s Nest Intelligence, enabling Trusts to forecast their future workforce needs based on built-in system analytics and insights. NHS Trusts feel super happy when their Customer Solutions Lead produces “performance data – particularly whilst the Trust worked through BAU roles in the earlier phases”.
> Constant improvement
The wise words of Michael Porter once said, “continuity of strategic direction and continuous improvement in how you do things are absolutely consistent with each other. In fact, they’re mutually reinforcing.” - perfectly summing up how we see continuous improvement at Locum’s Nest.
We do not implement and leave NHS Trusts to it. Instead, we see implementation as the start of the journey and relationships. This is because Trusts have new staff join, new workforce challenges arise, with the team on site regularly to support NHS Trusts and their ongoing challenges. Our team also provides consultative resources based on their years of experience. A Workforce Programme Lead at one of our partner NHS Trusts said they feel a “commitment to supporting us with resolving issues as they arise”.
Here are some examples of constant improvement:
Emma has been working closely with Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust since 2019 and wrote an end-to-end process for temporary staffing processes linked to Locum's Nest. With the Trust working across three sites, this made it possible for clarity on best practices, whilst enabling the teams to understand where the areas for improvement easily.
At University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Foundation Trust (who we partnered with towards the latter half of 2022) had a huge payroll challenge; converting from paper timesheets to e-timesheets as well as the process changes involved. Emma worked closely with the Trust to understand how the new ways of working would be implemented, running focus groups and ensuring clear communication throughout the process change. This has resulted in the Trust and Locum’s Nest being shortlisted for the Sustainability Project of the Year in the HSJ Partnership Awards 2023.
Our CSLs are also able to confidently challenge what their partner NHS Trusts are doing and explain why using their experience of change management implementation with workforce solutions technology.
The numbers backing up what our Operations team bring
Our Operations team is not just our CSLs and in fact, goes hand-in-hand with our excellent support team. In 2022 alone they collectively managed:
20,000 new users were assisted by our friendly customer support team
600 hours of training were delivered
500 people were unboarded
40 partner events were supported
1,000 hours of consultative services and customer advice delivered
Although the above highlight key ways with how our customer solutions team work, none of this would be possible without their genuine support, care and pure want to make a positive change to support our customers to their end goal. It all comes down to the personality of our added assets - individuals within our Operations team!
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If you want to learn more about how your NHS organisation can benefit from the added value of our Operations team, get in touch with our Chief Operations Officer, Maria Elisseou. Alternatively, book a quick call with one of our friendly team to find out how we can support your organisation.