As we mark the fifth anniversary of the NHS Workforce Alliance this spring, we reflect on our journey since formally initiating the five-partner collaboration between NHS North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative (NOE CPC), NHS London Procurement Partnership (NHS LPP), NHS Commercial Solutions, East of England NHS Collaborative Procurement Hub (EOECPH) and Crown Commercial Service (CCS), in 2019. The Alliance is an NHS organisation and represents the largest and most successful procurement partnership in the NHS.
Through our combined efforts, we’ve helped NHS organisations across the country to implement workforce strategies which provide outstanding value for money and help support patient care.
Key highlights in our first five years include:
- Helping the NHS to manage an expenditure of multiple billions through our commercial agreements – in 2023/24 alone, we generated savings of over £200 million in contingent labour costs.
- We have built a collaborative workforce team of around 80 people supporting all regions, trusts and ICBs across England.
- Procured 10 national framework agreements covering all aspects of workforce delivered by over 800 NHS compliant suppliers:
- Non-Clinical Staffing
- Clinical and Healthcare Staffing
- Managed Staff Banks
- HR Management Consultancy
- Insourced Services to Support the Provision of Healthcare Services
- Learning and Training DPS
- Occupational Health, Employee Assistance Programmes and Eye Care
- Permanent Recruitment
- Workforce Improvement Services
- International Recruitment
- Sponsored many NHS conferences and events, with key partners including HCSA and Convenzis. In October 2023, we hosted our own first-ever Alliance customer conference in Bristol.
- Implemented a rigorous programme of worker compliance audits aligned to NHS Employer standards so our supply agreements can be used with confidence.
We are proud of what we have achieved together and proud to be part of the NHS. As we look to the future, we want to use our successes so far as a platform for even stronger collaborations and better outcomes across the whole of the English NHS.
Thank you for your support.