The Rise of Insourcing in Hospitals

The healthcare industry constantly faces challenges in providing timely care while managing resource constraints. Referral-to-treatment (RTT) targets can feel out of reach for Trusts stretched thin. The answer is locum staff, offering temporary relief. Ensuring a smooth patient journey requires consistent oversight, something that can be difficult after hours and on weekends. 

A solution that bridges the gap – insourcing, which has seen an increase in popularity over time, with a growing number of business leaders re-evaluating their approach and keeping operations in-house that were once outsourced.

It’s noted that the NHS insourcing market is one of the fastest growing markets in private healthcare; in the 2019 financial year, it was worth £44m; by FY2021, it had reached £95m and is predicted to rise to £295m in FY2024. 

What is Insourcing?

Instead of outsourcing, insourcing is a cost-effective strategy that brings in additional clinical muscle without disrupting existing services. Think of it as extending the NHS’s operating hours, delivering extra care outside regular working times. 

How does insourcing benefit the NHS Trust?

Insourcing Locum staff ensures a smooth patient journey – especially on evenings and weekends. It acts as a seamless extension of the Trust’s internal team, providing extra clinical capacity when needed most. This will get patients the care they deserve, faster.

Insourcing offers a multi-pronged attack on NHS challenges: 

  • Enhanced care by bringing in additional clinical expertise; Insourcing can directly improve patients’ quality of care. 
  • Reduced waiting times and improved care quality naturally lead to higher patient satisfaction. 
  • Insourcing helps Trusts optimise resources by utilising existing facilities more effectively. 
  • It helps address staff shortages by offering flexible work opportunities for existing NHS personnel. 
  • With more staff and a focus on efficiency, insourcing can improve working conditions for NHS staff. 

Why is insourcing attractive for Trusts?

The NHS trust faces budget constraints so it’s important to reduce costs where possible. Insourcing recruitment companies can deliver services for up to 20% less than the NHS tariff because they lack the overhead costs of running a full hospital. This makes them a tempting option for Trusts desperate to increase capacity without breaking the bank.

The appeal of insourcing goes beyond just cost. Unlike agency staffing, which has strict price caps, there’s more flexibility with insourcing. This helps Trusts avoid situations where they can’t increase agency rates to fill critical gaps, even for essential procedures. While bank staff offer another option, their high cost can be a burden, particularly for nurses and allied health professionals. 

So, how do insourcing companies find staff if the NHS faces a shortage?

The answer lies in a clever strategy. They recruit existing NHS employees to work on their rest days, often weekends. This allows them to tap into a wider pool of talent across multiple Trusts, creating flexible insourced teams for specific needs.

Why is insourcing attractive to healthcare staff?

For consultants, insourcing is alluring because it potentially avoids pension tax complications. Extra bank shifts within the NHS can push them over the threshold, leading to higher tax bills on their earnings and automatic pension contributions. This discourages them from taking on extra NHS work. 

How does recruitment software help with insourcing?

Working as a CRM, Eclipse Recruitment Software can be a valuable tool to support insourcing for the NHS by offering functionalities that streamline the process and improve its effectiveness.  

  • Track budgets and PO spend with our new Project based Recruitment features.
  • Create Roster templates for quick and easy requirement management
  • Build a centralised database of candidates with their skills and experience.  
  • Compare available resources from your talent pool to match with positions and find the right skilled candidates with the right industry knowledge and see their availability.
  • Automate searches to filter applications based on pre-defined criteria to save time and ensure qualified candidates are prioritised.  
  • Use Eclipse to send targeted messages about temporary opportunities to relevant staff based on their skills and experience.  
  • Track critical metrics like time-to-fill, application rates, and candidate quality for internal positions. This data helps refine your insourcing strategy and maintain control to make informed decisions about future talent needs. 

Overall benefits for the NHS

By leveraging recruitment software for your insourcing, the NHS can: 

  • Reduce reliance on expensive external recruitment agencies. 
  • Improve the speed and efficiency of filling open positions. 
  • Boost staff morale and engagement by promoting internal mobility. 
  • Make cost savings while ensuring quality control over your resources.

If you want to tap into the healthcare insourcing market, get in touch and request a demo. Our team of specialists are on hand to guide you through the software and show you everything you could need from a recruitment CRM system. Â