Case Study

Neutral Vendor Agency Management

Support to manage and optimise temporary medical staffing for 5x Health Boards in the West of Scotland region

MEDICAL STAFFING

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NHS West of Scotland Health Boards

Headline results

£6.7m
staffing cost savings

95%
fill rate (15% increase)

51%
of bookings at reduced rates

100%
direct engagement efficiency

40%
supply chain growth

Litmus has delivered substantial value, driving savings and embedding better procedures.

Supporting our ongoing efforts to improve collaboration across Health Boards in the West of Scotland region.

Director of Workforce
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (Lead Authority)

The background

Folowing a competitive tender process via the Crown Commercial Services RM6161 framework, Litmus was awarded a new Neutral Vendor Managed Service contract to support five NHS health boards across the West of Scotland region.

With NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde acting as the lead contracting authority, the integrated West of Scotland group also includes:

NHS Lanarkshire
NHS Ayrshire and Arran
NHS Dumfries and Galloway
NHS Golden Jubilee

The Challenge

The West of Scotland covers a very large catchment area, with over 50 acute and community hospitals, collectively serving over 2.3 million people.

Although a collaborative temporary staffing operation was established in the region, rate strategies were not aligned and so different health boards were offering different pay rates and commission charges across the same grades and specialties. Authorisation processes were also not consistent and needed strengthening to prevent unnecessary rate escalations.

In addition, only a very small percentage of the temporary medical workforce were employed via direct engagement, representing a lost opportunity to reduce overall costs with valuable VAT savings.

The solution

Harmonised rates and delivered significant cost savings with proactive agency management

Litmus brought in a larger team and added specialist agencies to the supply chain, increasing fill rates to 95%. Staffing costs were significantly reduced by successfully introducing new harmonised regional rate cards and fixed commission charges. All rate strategies were carefully planned using detailed data analysis and rate benchmarking, accounting for trends, shortage areas and local factors influencing resource availability across different regions.

Executive teams across all health boards now have a far more accurate understanding of regional need and vacancies, supported by detailed MI insights generated by Litmus analytics teams which aid ongoing cost forecasting, demand planning and risk management. Feedback has been highly positive, with the teams praised for providing a much more responsive and proactive service.

Benefits

Results and benefits

£6.7 million in staffing cost savings in the first year
Rates and charges harmonised across the region
Rates reduced for 51% of bookings
Fill rate increased from 80% to 95%
Direct engagement increased from 82% to 100%
Supply chain grown from 33 to 46 agency partners

Direct Engagement Efficiency

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