The company involved says it will help NHS managers fill rota gaps in “minutes”.
Four major London Trusts have joined forces to create a mega nurse bank to bring greater “flexibility” to the capital’s nursing workforce.
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Chelsea and Westminster Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust have launched the launch the North West London Nurses Collaborative Bank.
A massive 20,000 registered nurses will join the shared pool or nurses who can fill shift vacancies across all four acute Trusts.
The new initiative will allow trusts to deploy staff better in line with need and offer workers greater flexibility in where and when they work.
The organisers say the Collaborative Bank will also help Trusts reduce spending on agency staff and minimise rota gaps by filling shifts in minutes.
It comes six months after the same trusts rolled out the North West London Collaborative Bank for doctors.
Improved collaboration.
The system will be Patchwork Health a digital healthcare agency platform developed by clinicians.
Lindsey Waddell, Programme Lead – NWL Consolidation Programme, said; “Over the past months, the North West London Collaborative Staff Bank played a critical role helping meet the challenges of the COVID surges.
“Now, the launch of the North West London Nurses Collaborative Staff Bank will serve to further our shared mission to improve outcomes for patients, staff and organisations.
“With the right tech solutions in place, we can unleash the full capacity of London’s NHS workforce ahead of a potentially challenging winter. This will help to reduce the pressure on an exhausted workforce whilst maintaining the highest standards of safety and patient care.
“Improved regional collaboration is a key objective here at the North West London ICS, so we’re delighted to be part of this trailblazing workforce initiative with our closest neighbours.”
There are plans to expand the initiative and bring additional Trusts into the Nurses Bank in the winter of 2021.
