The workforce supply project at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

Our learning from the project

'Since the project began, we have refreshed our workforce approach and have challenged some traditional thinking. Early on we learnt that we needed to prioritise key workstreams; these have been early career development, support workers, international recruitment and return to practice (RtP). We quickly identified that a substantive dedicated AHP Workforce Development faculty is required to ensure longer term success and ensure key workforce interventions become business as usual. We have raised the profile of AHPs in our trust and continue to ensure representation across the southeast London and the pan London AHP network, as well as bringing together key partners within the trust and wider afield to ensure continuing success.'

The difference at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust following the project and how it helped the organisation

"Through the six month project we initiated significant organic change and development of key workforce interventions. Six months on, we are working strategically with a longer-term vision in sight. As a result of the project, we are now presenting a business case to establish a practice and workforce development team to help continue the growth and success of the project; this will be a significant positive change and provide dedicated investment for our staff members. We are more aware of our workforce intelligence data, which has supported our ability to launch a 20 month strategic workforce plan. We have been able to setup a positive RtP pathway, which has seen multiple returners across different AHP professions come through on placements.

"Returners now undertake an informal interview process to match their requirements to the right service. Throughout their placements, returners have a dedicated mentor who is there to support them and at the end of their placement coaches them through the mechanism of how to apply to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) for registration. Our returners are then encouraged to apply for substantive roles within the trust. We have a continuous advert in place where individuals can approach us directly or be referred by HEE to complete their RtP placement with us.

"As a result of regular discussions, there is now a better understanding of our vacancies and the need for us to be more creative in our recruitment strategies to attract more AHPs into the trust. We have created new and different roles, for instance band 5 support workers and are encouraging more AHPs to go into advanced practitioner roles. We continue to work towards creating a viable career ladder for AHPs, particularly support workers and have ongoing work to ensure we retain AHPs within the professions, the trust and region but also to maximise their potential. 

“We have just launched a big international recruitment programme for 42 AHPs to join our trust by the end of the financial year; including radiographers, operating department practitioners (ODPs), podiatrists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists (OTs) and speech and language therapist’s (SLTs). New recruits will be well supported by a new AHP international recruitment development lead post which will work closely with our existing nursing and midwifery international development teams. I am also heavily involved with the Pan London International Recruitment Consortium and going to India and Dubai as part of Capital AHP to undertake approximately 185 interviews to recruit AHPs for over 15 trusts across London. 

“We are also launching an excellent AHP preceptorship programme for all newly qualified AHPs within the trust, following a series of stakeholder engagement and design sessions to ensure the programme is robust and of high quality which will ensure our new staff are well supported into their new careers. This will hopefully in turn reduce early attrition and improve retention, quality and productivity along with job satisfaction and career development. The programmes available will attract university credits, which, along with other courses available in the trust can go towards a masters level qualification.

“We have also been able to join forces with our nursing colleagues to relaunch The Care Certificate which will aim to provide all of our support workers the opportunity to network and gain a recognised qualification, while ensuring all staff have the same baseline qualification before going onto the apprenticeships we have on offer. This should hopefully further increase our ability to recruit and retain our support staff who are so important, while increasing the transferability of skills and resilience of this workforce. During this period, we have been able to offer our first ever AHP degree qualifying apprenticeship with a view to further expand these offerings. 

“We have been successful in being awarded five places on the HEE workforce planning masterclass 18-week course, which we have decided to have a project focussed on band 6 retention. This will hopefully improve our capacity with this key workforce group but also give myself and other AHP Leaders the skills to successfully apply the principles to further areas.”

The difference at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust following the project and how it helped the organisation

“As an organisation we recognise that it is difficult to simply get more boots on the ground and therefore the project has helped us come together as AHP leaders to think about the different ways we can improve our workforce supply. The project has kickstarted significant amounts of networking following a management re-structure, with the creation of several new AHP leadership roles. We now have a clear direction of travel to improve our workforce supply. We recognise that this is a longer-term programme but the project has given us plenty of ideas and plans for the future. Having less vacancies and a more efficient and effective AHP workforce means that our local population are able to continue receiving safe and effective care with the end result to be waiting lists going down, patients getting home sooner, patient’s quality of life increasing and patients being healthier.” 

The impact the project and the value of HEE’s input

“Throughout the project it was clear that it required significant teamwork across the organisation and wider afield, even nationally. Early on I identified the key people and teams and forged links where necessary. For example, we raised our profile within our finance team and started conversations around how we would agree further funding for practice development and workforce development posts, something that had not been successful to date. By doing this means that much more development will occur in the future in supporting our workforce. 

“Our HR business partners have been on board throughout the project. Our system of working has been a two-way function, they have got a lot of knowledge and expertise around the business and data side of things, but we can also provide our clinical knowledge and expertise and we have worked collaboratively on several aspects. I have worked with our workforce data intelligence team and utilised their support with recoding our workforce systems and mapping out our staffing data. They have helped us ensure our workforce data is accurate in terms of how many people we have in post; what profession they are in, the demographics and location of our workforce. When focusing on retention and recruitment they have been key in assisting us to map out how long our workforce have been in post and our staff turnover rate, as well as the many reports that require generating!

“Our AHP faculty in southeast London was very new and actually had its inaugural meeting during the lifetime of the project. Having workforce leads in post has been useful as it gave the right resource into the faculty so a coordinated approach could be taken across our faculty region. Without having these designated posts with the funding provided by HEE, it would have been a lot harder to organise and utilise. By having a clear project charter set by HEE, with timelines helped ensure focus and that outcomes were delivered successfully and on time. There were many support sessions offered by Suhailah Mohammed, the national project lead and the rest of the HEE team, which helped provide some of the knowledge and skills required to deliver a successful project. There were regular catch ups, both as a larger group but also on a one-to-one basis as required. 

“HEEs significant investment meant that there was ring fenced resource available to focus on workforce development within each participating trust, which we all know is so needed. This then allowed a larger community of practice which was then bought together, across the region and nationally. The webinars, online information sessions and groups that HEE have put on have been engaging and created a shared learning experience, with common goals. Going forward, we must ensure that the input that’s been provided is embedded and continued with the links we have created as a result of the project. 

“Prior to taking on this role I was based clinically in emergency medicine. I had run smaller projects and service improvements prior to this project but not an organisation wide initiative with multiple workstreams, covering over 750 staff members. Having the opportunity to take more of a strategic approach in my work has allowed me to progress my career and I have personally developed many skills and a wealth of knowledge that I can use to further advance my career. I have maintained clinical shifts throughout the workforce project, keeping up clinical skills and feeling those pressures that you might not get working full time in management. I have also developed my expertise in project management, HR, education and training, leadership, operational management and many other different pathways.”