February 2024

Welcome to this month's edition of the Alliance newsletter. It's hard to believe it's almost March already but in the face of significant challenges we are fully committed to working with all of our NHS colleagues across the country on developing sustainable workforce solutions.

In this edition:

• NHS Workforce Alliance is accredited as an approved framework provider 
• Thanks to everyone that visited the Alliance stand at Convenzis in Manchester
• New Non-Clinical Staffing rate card guidance tutorial
• New Provider Selection Regime (PSR) regulations
• Meet us in London next month at the King's Fund Workforce Summit 
• You're invited to our North of England Workforce Workshops
• Discover the importance of staff wellbeing in our latest short video
• Get to know Paul Britton, Operational Lead for the Alliance Health Assurance Audit 

Customer contributions to this newsletter are important to us so we'd like to hear from you on any aspect of NHS workforce. Simply reply to this email.

All the best from
The NHS Workforce Alliance team

NHS England confirms we are accredited as an approved framework provider

We’re pleased to announce that NHS England has confirmed that the NHS Workforce Alliance has been accredited as part of the first wave of their Framework Host Accreditation process.

In August 2023, NHS England announced their commitment to simplifying procurement for NHS buyers by consolidating and removing framework duplication, launching their Framework Accreditation Programme. This initiative ensures framework providers (hosts) must adhere to a strict set of host standards, covering such aspects as value for money, effective supplier management, service quality to the NHS and implementation of social value and NHS policy. Accreditation of individual frameworks will follow as part of the programme.

As of 1 April 2024, NHS organisations purchasing goods and services will be required to do so from the list of Accredited Framework Hosts, which is available on the NHS England website. 

Thanks to everyone that visited the Alliance stand at Convenzis

We were delighted to attend the Convenzis Healthcare Workforce Conference North, held in Manchester on 7 February. 

Our contribution included an event stand managed by experts in workforce category management from across the Alliance and a short presentation in the afternoon. We’d like to thank everyone who visited our stand and say how much we enjoyed meeting new NHS colleagues and catching up with those that we already work closely with. Discover more about the speaker topics including our talk delivered by Will Laing, Alliance Operations Director: NHS Workforce Alliance attends Convenzis 

Non-Clinical Staffing rate card guidance tutorial

Our Non Clinical Staffing (RM6277) framework agreement has an accompanying Rate Card and Award Support Tool document, to support you in shortlisting suppliers, rapidly awarding a supplier, and accurately calculating the correct Total Charge Rate. 

You can watch a video tutorial of our Rate Card and Award Support tool here.

New Provider Selection Regime (PSR) Regulations

The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 came into force on 1 January 2024 meaning any procurement process for health care services started on or after 1 January 2024 will have to be done in compliance with the new Provider Selection Regime (PSR) regulations. 

Click here to read our short summary of the PSR regulations on our website.

Schedule a meeting at the King's Fund Workforce Summit 

Meet our team of workforce category management experts from across the Alliance on 19 March in London at the King’s Fund Annual Leadership and Workforce Summit and discover how the Alliance can support your workforce strategy management.

Stop by and say hello to the team on the stand, or contact us to schedule a meeting in advance: King's Fund Workforce Summit.

NHS Workforce Alliance Workforce Workshops

- hosted by North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative

NHS Workforce Alliance Joint Cluster Workforce Workshop - Sheffield:
Tuesday 4 June 2024, 9:00am – 4:30pm
The OEC, Penistone Road, Sheffield, S6 2DE

Join us at the NHS Workforce Alliance Joint Cluster Workforce Workshop. Discover collaborative learning, best practices, and solutions for managing your temporary staff effectively. Our agenda includes market trends, policy updates, case studies, legal seminars, and a round table discussion. Register here for your place. 

NHS Workforce Alliance Workforce Workshop – Newcastle:
Tuesday 25 June 2024, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Copthorne Hotel Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3RT

You’re invited to the NHS Workforce Alliance Workshop. We’re uniting NHS organisations from the North East and neighbouring regions to share insights, tackle common challenges, and enhance your management of temporary staffing. Our full-day agenda features NHS England Regional Update, NHS England National Policy Update, NHS Workforce Alliance National Trends, Employment Law Update, IR35 panel discussions, and round table discussions on key challenges and case studies. Register here for your place.

The significance of staff retention in the NHS 

In this month’s short video, Assistant Director of Procurement David Downey speaks about the significance of staff retention in the NHS and the importance of staff wellbeing in aiding this.

To view, click the image above or view on our YouTube channel.

We are here to support you 

We understand how challenging workforce pressures are in the NHS, so we want to reiterate that we are here to support you. Please reach out to us if you need any support with anything workforce related. We are here to listen and use our expertise to tailor support to your trust/ICB needs.