Valuing Our Bank Workforce: Boosting Fill Rates and Reducing Agency Spend
Summary
Northumbria Healthcare transformed the experience of over 1,500 bank workers through a values-led programme focused on connection, recognition, and wellbeing. By treating bank workers as an integral part of the organisation, the Trust built loyalty, strengthened engagement, and improved morale. This cultural shift increased shift fill rates, reduced reliance on agency staffing, and delivered safer, more consistent patient care. The model shows how valuing flexible workers creates sustainable improvements for staff, patients, and the organisation.
The Challenge
Bank workers on zero-hour contracts are essential to safe care but often felt disconnected from the organisation. Limited communication, recognition, and inclusion compared with substantive colleagues led to low morale, reduced shift uptake, and heavy reliance on costly agency staffing. In the post-pandemic context, the Trust needed to create a more inclusive and supportive approach that improved wellbeing, strengthened engagement, boosted fill rates, and reduced agency use, ensuring safe staffing across a wide geographical area.
The Solution
The HR Staff Bank Team led a multi-stranded programme of engagement and support. Interventions included welcome packs for new starters, regular wellbeing calls, proactive re-engagement of dormant workers, a bespoke digital bulletin, and enhanced social media presence. Bank workers were included in Trust-wide communications such as the CEO’s blog, and a fast-track route into permanent roles was developed with HR and recruitment. Senior nursing leads contributed feedback from clinical areas, while bank workers co-produced video content and role profiles. Clearer routes to complete mandatory training and appraisals improved compliance and confidence. Together, this created a relationship-based workforce model centred on wellbeing, flexibility, and sustainability.
Results & Next Steps
Bank fill rates rose from 43% to 80%, reducing rota gaps and improving continuity of care. The Trust achieved an £11 million reduction in agency spend since 2022. The NHS National Bank Staff Survey ranked Northumbria 2nd nationally for morale, with a 52.5% response rate, the highest in the country. Proactive check-ins reduced inactivity and increased reactivation, while many bank workers moved into permanent roles through the fast-track pathway. Training and compliance rates improved, and feedback showed workers felt valued and included. One bank worker commented, “This is the first time I’ve truly felt like I belong to a trust, even on a bank contract.” The model is now embedded across all sites and has been shared regionally and nationally through NHS staff bank networks. Next steps are to maintain high engagement, continue reducing agency reliance, and build career pathways that support long-term retention.
