The winter pressure on the NHS is felt by all, in whatever field you work in. For Dr Claire Agathou, Ambassador for mental health charity You Okay, Doc?, going to work and leaving when it is cold and dark means taking some extra measures to ensure her own health doesn’t suffer as a result. Read her top tips for surviving the winter pressures.

In this article we share a snapshot of actions NHS HR & OD teams can start to implement to future-proof workforce planning and create long lasting cultural change in their organisations. These 6 key actions have been directly extracted from 3 out of the 8 main themes laid out in ‘The Future of NHS HR & OD 2030 vision’.

I have to admit that it hasn’t been easy compiling the ‘killer’ list precisely because there isn’t one. Some of these tips will work for some, and for some others they will be completely useless... but here we go, I hope some will prove useful to you or your loved ones.

London’s largest mental health Trust, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, will be enabling flexibility for both medics and Allied Health Professionals with the adoption of our leading shift matching and rostering technology.

Protecting healthcare professionals’ mental health has always been our top priority. Long before Covid-19, we outlined our mission to enable better flexibility, staffing and collaboration within the NHS.

We are therefore delighted to announce we have recently joined forces with ‘You Okay, Doc?’, a mental health charity that seeks to improve and support doctors’ wellbeing worldwide.

In the third episode of our video series ‘Designing for HealthTech’. Our Co-Founder, Dr Nicholas Andreou, and Head of Design, Jason Peart, met to share how, through a series of microinteractions, the Locum’s Nest app has not only heightened engagement between frontline users and management, but has improved the overall wellbeing of our NHS people.

At Locum’s Nest, we understand that healthcare processes can be rather time-consuming and stressful to complete. That’s why we’ve partnered with Doctors Appraisal Consultancy (DAC) to bring our users peace of mind and prepare you as you get ready to progress your medical career. DAC are our doctors’ appraisal provider of choice, with a friendly team of experts on hand to help you through the appraisal and revalidation process.

We are delighted to share that the North Central London Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (NCL STP) has appointed Locum’s Nest to create London’s largest collaborative staff bank for their 10 NHS Trusts.

By introducing our cloud-based solution, it will enable each hospital to access a larger pool of doctors and tackle the building pressure on our NHS healthcare professionals.

Since Locum’s Nest was launched, our team has been working hard to bridge the communication gap within the NHS. We have created collaborative staff banks, generated dramatic cost savings and heavily reduced manual administration within people management. Here, we share how, by advancing the synergy between hospital managers and frontline workers, the NHS can bring a sense of unity and enhance overall employee wellbeing.

As ambassadors for digital healthcare innovation, we’re proud to sponsor this year’s HR Analytics Award, a category that recognises the value of workforce data to deliver insights, better decision-making and, ultimately, safer wards and improved patient care. Many submissions were received, each demonstrating the creativity and commitment of HR & OD teams across the country.

Over the years we’ve become experts in applying and evaluating best practices when it comes to managing staff banks. In this article, we explore specific techniques to allow rapid bank growth and engagement over the August Changeover period.

In the second episode of our new video series, ‘Designing for HealthTech’, our Co-Founder, Dr Nicholas Andreou, and Head of Design, Jason Peart, discuss how, through thoughtful design, Locum’s Nest has created a truly empathetic user experience, contributing to our users’ peace of mind as well as building the ultimate destination for flexible, empowered shift work.

Not afraid to challenge the status quo, ASPH teamed up with Locum’s Nest and Rotageek to pioneer a new way to roster their staff. We invited Debbie Beck, Workforce Deployment Systems Project Manager, and Coleen Sherlock, Assistant HR Director, to discuss how they championed rostering innovation in an online workshop on how the NHS must build a flexible workforce. Here, we share their journey so far.

At Locum’s Nest, we strongly believe in the power of a collaborative workforce, having enabled NHS Trusts across the country to consistently achieve shift fill rates of over 90%, generating dramatic cost savings and empowering their employees through our suite of products.

Here we share more about this important shift and how, by embracing this change, NHS providers can become leaders in the continuously evolving healthcare landscape.

We are over the moon to announce that Locum’s Nest has been shortlisted for the renowned Design Week Awards 2021. Following the rapid deployment of three Locum’s Nest products during the pandemic, our mobile app for NHS workers is in the running for a brand new category, ‘Designing out Covid-19’.

Our aim has always been to better the lives of NHS workers; a user-centric philosophy which continues to remain front of mind whilst designing our platform of workforce solutions. We are therefore delighted to announce the launch of our brand new video series, ‘Designing for HealthTech’, which shares how Locum’s Nest is revolutionising design in healthcare technology today.

Our goal remains to increase flexible working within the NHS, improving staff retention, engagement, patient care and ultimately saving our healthcare service £1.5 billion over the next five years. By developing a suite of unique products, each individually catered to our customers specific needs, we are now able to radically transform the NHS staffing crisis.

The NHS backlog is still out of proportion, at Locum's Nest we believe more must be done to tackle this pressing issue and gain back control of the NHS waiting list. Here, we share how a multifactorial solution must involve a better allocation of existing resources.

Our solutions are leading the way in interoperability, rostering and flexible working. But perhaps most importantly, they are supporting the wellbeing of our users.

Here we share how Locum’s Nest is future-proofing workforce software and the elements that bind our forward-thinking approach.

We are delighted to share that Locum’s Nest is the official sponsor of the 2021 HPMA HR Analytics Excellence in People Awards; a chance to celebrate the work of HR, OD and NHS workforce professionals in the UK. Such individuals have continued to support and empower an inclusive, people-first culture at a time where healthcare workers have been under immense pressure. For that reason, it’s even more important we recognise these teams’ enormous contribution.