We are pleased to announce that the South East Temporary Staffing Collaborative has been awarded Data-Driven Transformation of the Year at the 2024 HSJ Awards – an event that recognises achievements across the health and social care sector, fostering collaboration to shape the future of the NHS.
Over the past 18 months, NHS SCW has played a pivotal role in supporting the programme, providing expert technical advice through workforce, finance, and business intelligence specialists, as well as delivering comprehensive programme management support via a dedicated PMO team, ensuring robust governance and reporting.
The HSJ judging panel commended the Collaborative’s efforts, noting that by "working together across the South East, 27 acute, community and mental health trusts have united to transform the management of temporary staffing across the region. Harnessing the power of data, the trusts have shared intelligence through digital platforms, providing greater visibility and improving decision-making, resulting in a £125m reduction in annual agency spend (compared to the previous year) by shifting from 'competition to collaboration,' trusts now achieve best value through digitally enabled transformation and trusted transparency." The panel also emphasised the scalability and complexity of the project, as well as the team’s evident passion for making a meaningful impact.
Since the programme’s inception in 2022/23, it has delivered exceptional results:
- Off-framework usage has been reduced from 8.8% to just 0.6% (as of Month 6, 2024/25).
- Total agency savings of £224 million have been achieved over two years (Month 1, 2022/23 to Month 12, 2023/24), with a further £56 million reduction year-to-date (Month 6, 2024/25).
- Cap compliance has significantly improved, rising from 33% (Month 1, 2022/23) to 53% (Month 6, 2024/25), driven by the Agenda for Change agency project.
The partnership approach has involved working closely with trusts across the region, NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit, NHS England, the procurement frameworks, and other partners to deliver significant reductions in agency spend, off-framework supply, and increased compliance with NHSE agency caps. The drive and passion of colleagues and partners across the NHS family to achieve shared objectives has been truly phenomenal. - Caroline Corrigan, Chief People Officer at NHS Frimley and Programme SRO
This award recognises the entire region coming together to address shared challenges. A key element of our success has been the development of a Power BI tool, which analyses and shares temporary staffing data from across the Collaborative trusts. This has increased transparency across the region and enabled data-driven decision-making. NHS SCW has been fully embedded in the central programme team from the outset. Their team members have provided essential programme management support and technical expertise in enabling the Power BI tool, which has been integral to the Collaborative’s success. NHS SCW is perfectly positioned to deliver dynamic and responsive support to initiatives like this. - Parjinder Basra, Programme Director for the South East Temporary Staffing Collaborative
