From Understaffed to Outstanding: How One NHS Medical Workforce Team Transformed Staffing, Culture and Agency Spend
Medical workforce teams in the NHS are often under-resourced, reactive and stretched beyond capacity. In this session from the Connected Health & Care Summit 2026, Karolina, Medical Workforce Productivity Lead, and Simon, rota coordinator, share how their team went from a group of three with no processes and no reputation to a centralised team of 12 delivering 96% job planning compliance, over 90% return-to-work completion and significant reductions in agency spend, all built on Allocate, now part of RLDatix.
Watch how an NHS medical workforce team transformed its approach to staffing, centralised processes, improved workforce planning and built a culture focused on collaboration and continuous improvement.
Key outcomes from the transformation
This session tells the story of a medical workforce team that went from constant firefighting with a staff turnover of 23 people in the first two years to a stable, high-performing unit of 12. The headline outcomes were:
- Team grew from 3 to 12, with zero current vacancies and staff describing it as the best team they have ever worked in
- 96% job planning compliance achieved before the national deadline
- Over 90% return-to-work interview completion, compared with previously limited completion rates
- All rotas planned six weeks ahead, replacing reactive day-to-day gap filling
- Agency staff successfully converted to bank, with millions saved through rate negotiation and tiering
- ED medical staffing increased from 14 to 34 doctors, with consultants supported to self-roster
