Blog

Under normal circumstances, making a vaccine can take between 10 and 15 years due to the complexity of vaccine development.  However, as the global pandemic took hold in the Spring 2020, time was a luxury the world could not afford.  This “landing on the moon moment,” (*Dr. Yager) has ushered in a new era of vaccine research and within 11 months ...

The power of data One of the biggest challenges facing the NHS is data.  The NHS has lots of it but has historically not been great at using it.  Yet it is a challenge that must be overcome as data is critical to the healthcare system in providing safer and more effective care; overcoming operational issues; understanding disease and improving ...

Population health Improving population health has become an urgent priority. It’s not difficult to understand why when you consider that morbidity strikes 10-15 years earlier in some disadvantaged populations (David Buck, King’s Fund). We have got used to people living longer, that we have an ageing population, but in reality, in recent years, ...

You may be rather sceptical over the recent launch on 1st July of the government’s new digital transformation body. You might think “we’ve seen it all before” or “why will it be any different this time?” but maybe we need to have a bit of faith in what Matthew Gould is setting out to achieve. Isn’t it, after all, about time that the NHS gets their ...

With many people citing the workforce crisis in the NHS as the biggest threat to the success of the Long Term Plan (LTP), we look at the changes needed not only to workforce strategy but also how leadership and culture need to change if the LTP is to have the desired impact. An unhappy workforce The NHS has been suffering for years, as the ...

The NHS long-term plan, published in January this year promises a 3.4% real terms annual increase in the NHS budget up until 2024. As welcome as that may be, in order to meet the rising demand, the staff shortages present a crisis that may well put the success of the plan in doubt. Current scenario The reality is that 1 in 11 posts* in the ...

  A healthy and happy workplace makes for a productive and effective team that is likely to stick around. However, with everything that office management entails, looking out for the wellbeing of your staff sometimes falls off the list. It pays to look out for the health of your employees and to encourage good habits.   Here are five ...

Summertime is approaching and it’s likely that your HR team is anticipating a rush of annual leave requests. No good employer begrudges hard working employees a bit of time out, but what happens when half of your team suddenly want to be away at the same time? Fear not! We have proactive strategies for relieving the annual leave burden at ...

Uncontrolled Costs and inefficiencies   Without a robust process for identifying and quickly filling empty shifts with properly qualified staff, you may be left at the mercy of agencies and locums who will charge a premium. Alternatively, you might be running at a loss due to over-staffed shifts which see team members standing idle.   ...

As we wave goodbye to 2018, we’ve been exploring the biggest current trends in the rapidly evolving UK employment landscape. 1. Millennials are heavily influencing UK working practices The Millennial generation is the largest ever to enter the workforce. Currently they comprise around 35% of the UK workforce; global representation is expected ...

Whether you need to speedily secure a qualified replacement for the team member who has just called-in sick, or you want to remind your entire team about next week’s staff meeting - SMS messaging can present an ideal solution.  The average Briton receives almost 34,000 mobile phone messages and alerts annually - 427% more messages than 10 years ...

  In healthcare, varying levels of pay and working hours can cause a headache when it comes to tracking budgets. Staffing pools are filled with a wide range of shift patterns, often far removed from the 9 to 5 that most other sectors are accustomed to. There’s also a diverse skill set, pay scales with overtime, part-time hours, zero hours ...