Is innovative workforce planning software the solution to NHS staffing and cost crisis? An exploration of the locum industry

BACKGROUND: Workforce planning in the British healthcare system (NHS) is associated with significant costs of agency staff employment. The introduction of a novel software (ABG) as a ‘people to people economy’ (P2PE) platform for temporary staff recruitment offers a potential solution to this problem. Consequently, the focus of this study was twofold – primarily to explore the locum doctor landscape, and secondarily to evaluate the implementation of P2PE in the healthcare industry. METHODS: Documentary analysis was conducted alongside thirteen semi structured interviews across five informant groups: two industry experts, two healthcare consultants, an executive director, two speciality managers and six doctors. RESULTS: We found that locum doctors are indispensable to covering workforce shortages, yet existing planning and recruitment practices were found to be inefficient, inconsistent and lacking transparency. Contrarily, mobile-first solutions such as ABG seem to secure higher convenience, better transparency, cost and time efficiency. We also identified factors facilitating the successful diffusion of ABG; these were in line with classically cited characteristics of innovation such as trialability, observability, and scope for local reinvention. Drawing upon the concept of value-based healthcare coupled with the analysis of our findings led to the development of Information Exchange System (IES) model, a comprehensive framework allowing a thorough comparison of recruitment practices in healthcare. CONCLUSION: IES was used to evaluate ABG and its diffusion against other recruitment methods and ABG was found to outperform its alternatives, thus suggesting its potential to solve the staffing and cost crisis at the chosen hospital.