{"id":5002,"date":"2023-12-04T12:22:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T12:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/integratedcarejournal.com\/?p=5002"},"modified":"2024-01-16T13:52:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T13:52:03","slug":"new-endoscopy-staff-bank-boost-nhs-capacity-cheshire-merseyside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/integratedcarejournal.com\/new-endoscopy-staff-bank-boost-nhs-capacity-cheshire-merseyside\/","title":{"rendered":"New endoscopy staff bank to boost NHS capacity in Cheshire and Merseyside"},"content":{"rendered":"

Developed in partnership with Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as lead employer, a new collaborative staffing bank for endoscopy staff will enable local trusts to pool their individual networks of temporary workers and adjust staffing levels according to demand. A total of seven trusts, which provide endoscopy services at 10 hospital sites and are part of the Cheshire and Merseyside Endoscopy Network<\/a>, are participating.<\/p>\n

The new bank is available to all NHS staff who specialise in endoscopy across the seven trusts taking part, including clinical, administrative, nursing and medical staff, and it is hoped that greater flexibility for staff will help boost staff retention. The bank will enable staff to pick up additional shifts as and where they wish, allowing them to view and select shifts at any of the 10 hospital sites via a mobile app, connected to a new digital platform built in partnership with workforce solutions provider Patchwork Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Participating trusts will be able to manage and approve payments through the platform, as well as gain access to a data reporting tool providing key staffing insights from across the collaborative bank, including staffing levels, pay rates and shift fill rates at the 10 hospitals. Workers joining the staff bank will be engaged through Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals\u2019 (MWL\u2019s) Lead Employer team and added to their workforce and payroll systems.<\/p>\n

Much of the information required on staff will be imported automatically from their existing NHS employment, reducing \u2018time to hire\u2019 and avoiding the duplication of checks including pre-employment screening and mandatory training. The new bank will also mean staff do not need honorarium contracts, which were previously required when staff worked for trusts other than their primary employer.<\/p>\n

It is hoped that this will benefit staff by introducing greater flexibility to respond to personal circumstances, thereby boosting staff retention.<\/p>\n

The ability to allocate workforce and resources<\/a> within a region according to real-time need has long been touted as a potential strength of ICSs. Cheshire and Merseyside ICS hope that the establishment of the staffing bank will help to reduce reliance on agency staff, cutting costs and leading to shorter waiting times for patients. Visibility of staffing data will help teams across Cheshire and Merseyside Acute and Specialist Trusts (CMAST) \u2013 the provider collaborative which covers the ten hospital sites \u2013 to monitor staffing trends and identify areas for improvement, supporting them to meet rising patient demand.<\/p>\n

The Cheshire and Merseyside endoscopy staff bank is the second major collaborative staffing initiative launched by lead employer, MWL Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. In 2020, it launched the\u00a0North West\u00a0Doctors in Training Collaborative Staff Bank,\u00a0the largest initiative of its kind in the UK, which brings together 24 trusts across the North West and has helped retain an estimated \u00a36 million within the NHS to date.<\/p>\n

The seven trusts, which provide endoscopy at 10 hospital sites and are all part of\u00a0Cheshire and Merseyside Endoscopy Network<\/a>, are:<\/p>\n