Blog – Patchwork Health

Cracking the code on NHS pay rate escalations

Joe Crowley — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 15:02:10 GMT

The evolution of healthcare rostering software: from manual to digital – Patchwork Health

The Patchwork Team — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 13:00:00 GMT

The NHS faces a critical need for effective healthcare rostering software. Traditional manual systems are outdated, leading to inefficiencies (financially and operationally), clinician dissatisfaction, and can ultimately impact turnover rates. The shift from manual to digital rostering marks a significant step towards improving NHS workforce management, cost control, and clinician well-being.

Rolling rosters: a smarter way to schedule – Patchwork Health

Joe Crowley — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 23:00:00 GMT

Most roster systems force you to choose a start date, an end date and then hope nothing changes. Some take that a step further and lock you into clean 4-week boxes. Neat on paper, but impossible in practice.

At Patchwork we built our rostering system differently: rolling, agile and human-centric. That means managers publish what they can when they can, keep future blocks in draft, and make targeted edits without rebuilding the whole year.

This results in predictability where it matters, and flexibility where reality bites.

The problem with inflexible scheduling

Traditional rostering systems often create more problems than they solve:

Fragmented records

A single, real-life roster gets scattered across multiple digital versions, making it difficult to review past activity or conduct audits.

Messy reporting

Data has to be manually pieced together from various rosters, which complicates analysis and compromises accuracy (and takes ages).

Un-productivity

Managers find themselves spending more time on roster maintenance than on managing their teams and services.

Some organisations try to work around these limitations by creating long-term rosters that span 12 or even 24 months. While this might seem like a solution, it isn’t sustainable.

Different teams and roles operate on vastly different cycles. For instance, resident doctors might rotate every few months, while annual job plans are set for the year. A one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work and clinician and non-clinical staff bear the brunt of this.

Introducing rolling rosters: The Patchwork solution

Here’s how we’re making rostering smarter and more intuitive:

No need to recreate

Instead of starting from scratch every few months, you can simply extend your existing roster. This creates a continuous, unbroken record of all scheduling activity. We’ve even attached a short walkthrough, so you can see this in action for yourself.

Publish in increments for clearer planning

Managers can release the roster in blocks. This gives staff the predictability they need, while managers retain the flexibility to adapt to future changes.

Seamlessly manage staff patterns and rotations

Whether it’s accommodating rotations, promotions, or new team members, patterns can be easily extended, edited, or ended within the same roster. Crucially, managers can also swap workers safely in and out of schedules when rotations happen, without breaking continuity or creating a new roster. That means less repetitive work, fewer errors, and a smoother process for everyone. Take a look here at how this works on Patchwork Rota.

Align service and job plans

Managing rosters will soon allow shifts and activities from service and job plans to be added at any time, even after a roster has been extended. There’s no need to overhaul your workflow, just extend, adjust, and keep rolling.

Why a flexible approach matters

By moving away from rigid, start-and-end-date rosters, we empower healthcare organisations to:

Reduce the administrative burden on managers.
Crucially, improve the accuracy of reports and forecasts.
Provide staff with clarity while maintaining operational flexibility.
Strengthen retention by creating a more efficient work environment that is more considerate to the clinicians’ work.

With Patchwork, rosters move with you, they are agile and fluid, supporting continuous service delivery.

How can self-rostering support your NHS organisation & clinicians?

The Patchwork Team — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 08:49:00 GMT

What is self-rostering in the NHS?

Self-rostering refers to the practice of allowing staff to choose the shifts they work, as opposed to a rota coordinator organising each individual’s schedule. This flexible approach to rostering allows clinicians to have more control over their working hours, and is designed to address several challenges associated with traditional rostering, such as work-life balance, staff satisfaction, and retention. It’s important that this flexibility is balanced against service demand, ensuring minimum staffing numbers are achieved for patient safety. When implemented properly, self-rostering can greatly reduce (or in some cases remove) the need for ‘shift swaps’; a process which can be frustrating and time-consuming for both clinicians and rota coordinators.

Unpacking the NHS 10 Year Health Plan

Olivia Jewell — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 07:44:00 GMT

The NHS 10-Year Health Plan arrives as the latest in a series of ambitious blueprints, once again positioning itself as a catalyst for meaningful change, aiming to improve care delivery while reshaping the working environment for its dedicated workforce.

Packed with forward-thinking initiatives, it sets out a future where staff wellbeing, operational efficiency, and the thoughtful use of technology are brought to the forefront. But while the vision is welcome and much-needed, the true test will be in the application. If delivered, this plan represents more than just intention; it offers a real opportunity to build flexible, motivated, and empowered healthcare teams.

Here, we explore how the plan addresses key aspects of workforce management and why, if realised, these changes could help build a brighter, more sustainable future for everyone in the system.

Redefining staff numbers and quality by 2035

By 2035, the NHS staffing landscape is set to look very different. Compared to the projections laid out in the 2023 Long Term Workforce Plan, there will be fewer healthcare professionals in post. However, those who remain will work within an improved environment, one that prioritises how staff are treated, trained and supported throughout their careers.

The focus is clearly shifting from workforce quantity to workforce quality. This means more meaningful career development, stronger day-to-day support, and better recognition of each individual’s contribution. These changes are designed to improve performance and morale, while also ensuring care remains consistent and high quality.

Central to this approach will be the systems that underpin how staff grow, feel valued, and are deployed in ways that match demand. From job planning and appraisals to regular feedback and structured progression, the plan signals a move towards a more intentional, supportive employment experience across the NHS.

Technology has a crucial role to play in this. Digital tools can bring greater transparency to how staff are allocated, ensure rotas reflect individual preferences and capacity, and support continuous development through easier access to appraisals, learning, and feedback. When deployed well, these systems don’t just manage the workforce, they help teams feel seen, supported, and better aligned to service needs.

A shift towards reform and value-based care

The NHS is moving away from a model that prioritises short-term financial goals without addressing the structural challenges that underpin them. In its place comes a value-based approach, one that seeks to maximise outcomes for every pound spent. This marks a significant shift in how decisions are made, with resource allocation and performance measured not by input alone, but by the impact on patient care and staff wellbeing.

To make this shift meaningful, access to accurate, real-time workforce data will be essential. Understanding patterns of staffing, demand, and capacity at both local and system levels can unlock more efficient deployment, reduce gaps in care, and support the shift from reactive to proactive planning. Without this level of insight, efforts to improve outcomes risk falling short.

Technology that enables this, through smarter scheduling, better communication, and agile workforce reporting, will be crucial. These solutions don’t just optimise staffing in the moment; they create a more responsive, transparent foundation for long-term transformation, helping workforce leaders align resources with clinical need and strategic goals.

Flexible work as the new standard

Flexible working is fast becoming a non-negotiable across the NHS, and the plan reinforces this shift. It sets out an approach to reduce reliance on costly extra-contractual work and to eliminate agency staffing altogether by the end of this parliamentary term. The proposed transition of agency workers into staff bank roles promises greater flexibility for clinicians, stronger familiarity for teams, and improved cost efficiency for organisations.

There is real potential in this change, with projected savings of up to £1 billion over the next five years. Crucially, this is money that could be channelled back into frontline services and workforce support.

For clinicians, flexibility has long been tied to better work-life balance, greater autonomy, and a sense of control over schedules. The benefits for patients are just as clear, with more consistent care and stronger staff engagement. It is encouraging to see this direction backed at a national level, and for those of us who have championed flexible working for years, it feels like a long-overdue alignment between policy and practice.

The transition away from agency will require the right infrastructure to make it work in reality. Technology that is built around flexibility, visibility, and ease of use will be essential to making this vision stick and to truly embed new ways of working for the long term.

Staff given smart technology

Technology sits at the heart of the NHS’s latest vision. There is a strong emphasis on workforce management technology, with commitments to reducing administrative burdens so that staff can spend more time with patients. The benefits here are twofold: improving outcomes while helping to ease burnout and stress, promising to reshape both how care is delivered and how teams work behind the scenes. It’s a familiar idea, and one that’s been explored before, but it is refreshing to see it clearly backed by national bodies.

Crucially, this plan recognises that empowering healthcare professionals also means giving them the right tools, not just digitising for the sake of it. We have seen the difference that effective, fit-for-purpose systems can make to staff morale, retention and performance. When technology supports rather than hinders, the impact across an organisation is significant.

Alongside this, the plan places a welcome focus on staff wellbeing and development, from smoother onboarding processes to tackling non-clinical workload. There is a clear shift towards creating a working environment where people feel supported and valued. It is a recognition that long-term sustainability does not just depend on budgets or technology adoption, but on how well the NHS supports the people powering it.

A future of possibility

The NHS 10-Year Health Plan paints a hopeful picture of the future. By harnessing flexible working models, leveraging technology, and investing in its greatest asset, its people, the NHS is positioning itself as a modern employer and a global leader in healthcare innovation.

Achieving these goals will require partnership, collaboration, and a willingness to embrace change. The foundations laid by this plan should pave the way for a sustainable, efficient, and patient-centred NHS.

Whether you’re a workforce leader, manager, or frontline clinician, the time to engage with this transformation is now. Together, we can build an NHS that not only meets the needs of patients but empowers its staff to thrive.

Comments from our CEO and Co-Founder, Dr Anas Nader:

“While ‘doctors in pockets’ and AI diagnostics will grab the headlines, the behind-the-scenes transformation this plan promises to deliver is just as important.

If we are serious about building an NHS ‘fit for the future,’ we urgently need to find ways to maximise operational efficiency and implement new solutions to address age-old problems like staffing and service planning.

That’s why I’m especially pleased to see leaders commit to harnessing digital tools that free up staff time and streamline laborious admin, as well as the focus on offering greater flexibility for clinicians. The test now will be how the government goes about delivering on these pledges.

Goals such as eliminating all external agency spend by the end of this parliament are ambitious, but without a concrete strategy to replace this essential labour, we risk adding to the pressure on overstretched teams and exacerbating the strain on our chronically overburdened health service.”

Reducing agency spend: In response to the Secretary of State for Health – Patchwork Health

Joe Crowley — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 13:11:00 GMT

The recent joint letter from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Chief Executive of NHS England set a clear and ambitious direction. The NHS have been asked to reduce agency spend by 30% in the next financial year.

Leveraging data-driven rostering tech to boost workforce productivity, safety and wellbeing – Patchwork Health

Joe Crowley — Wed, 21 May 2025 12:42:00 GMT

For all NHS organisations, ensuring compliance, maintaining fairness, and productively meeting the dynamic needs of patient care all hinge on having the right tools in place. Traditional rostering approaches often lack the visibility and efficiency required, leaving teams grappling with fragmented processes and outdated information.

This is where data-driven rostering solutions, like Patchwork Rota, step in. With data surfaced via Patchwork Insights, the solution doesn’t just simplify rostering, it transforms the process into a strategic asset. By enhancing visibility and transparency, the system enables informed staffing decisions that support compliance, fairness, and ultimately, safer workforce utilisation.

The central role of visibility

Compliance isn’t just about ticking boxes, it’s the backbone of safe and effective care delivery. Failing to comply with regulations, such as maintaining minimum staffing levels or honouring agreed working hours, risks service disruptions and puts undue stress on employees. Ensuring compliance begins with visibility knowing where your resources are, identifying gaps, and seeing who’s available, before making decisions.

Yet, many organisations lack real-time access to this data, forcing managers to make staffing decisions without the necessary information. This often leads to over or understaffing, increasing reliance on costly temporary staff and creating inefficiencies throughout the workforce deployment process. With data-driven rostering, these issues become far more preventable and give teams comfort around their workforce decisions.

How Patchwork Rota drives compliance and fairness

Patchwork Rota, powered by data from Patchwork Insights, offers a holistic approach to workforce management, addressing multiple challenges with an emphasis on compliance and fairness.

Here’s how it works:

1. Real-time data visibility

With central, easily accessible dashboards, workforce managers can monitor every aspect of rostering, from shift assignments to leave balances. This ensures that key compliance metrics, such as minimum staffing numbers or mandatory coverage are met without manual guesswork.

For example, instead of relying on generic rota patterns or outdated lists, managers can see live data about who has been rostered, who is available, and where resource surpluses or shortages exist, informing workforce decisions, minimising errors and reducing manual admin.

2. Automated decision-making

Patchwork Rota’s solution balances complex factors, including regulatory requirements, skill mixes, and staff availability – to create compliant and fair rosters.

Imagine a situation where staff preferences clash with organisational needs. Automated systems review the data, assign shifts that meet compliance standards, and clearly communicate the rationale behind decision-making. This minimises bias, retains transparency, and boosts trust between clinicians and management.

By doing the heavy lifting, Patchwork Rota allows rota coordinators to focus their attention on higher-priority tasks, reducing admin time from hours to minutes.

3. Foster fairness with preference-based rostering

Fairness doesn’t have to come at the cost of efficiency. Patchwork Rota enables preference-based rostering, allowing clinicians to submit their availability for upcoming shifts. This ensures their work-life balance is considered while still adhering to compliance needs for coverage and operational safety.

Staff preferences are intelligently balanced with other priorities, aligning schedules in ways that foster morale and fairness. With fewer surprises and more transparent processes, engagement improves and so does compliance with working hour agreements.

4. Integrated data and staffing insights

Organisations often struggle to match staffing numbers to service demand, leading to overstaffing in some areas and understaffing in others. Patchwork Rota solves this by incorporating real-time demand data into scheduling decisions.

For example, with data from different departments, rota coordinators gain clarity on patient volume, service demand, and resource requirements. This equips teams to redistribute staff dynamically, ensuring compliance and safety without resorting to more costly temporary staffing options as a first port of call.

Building a safer, smarter workforce

The NHS staff survey has shown that staff engagement and well-being are linked to the tools and systems they interact with daily.

By adopting Patchwork, organisations create a support structure that promotes fairness, reduces manual rostering stress, and ensures compliance.

Ultimately, compliance and productivity are two sides of the same coin, one cannot work without the other. With data-driven tools, the gap between staff satisfaction, operational efficiency, and patient safety closes further, supporting a safer, more reliable healthcare system for everyone.

Want to discuss how you could boost workforce productivity at your organisation with Patchwork? Get in touch here.

Why job planning needs better data – Patchwork Health

Joe Crowley — Tue, 13 May 2025 07:20:00 GMT

We summarise how poor visibility of clinical activity can throw a department off balance – and what we can do about it.

Job planning shouldn’t have to be as complex as it often is for workforce teams. Put simply, job planning involves matching clinicians with activities that need completing. But in practice, it’s rarely this straightforward.

For any departments juggling priority emergency duty cover, year-round service requirements, and the other everyday realities of annual and professional/study leave, it gets complicated – fast. Without accurate, up-to-date data, it’s not just scheduling that suffers – it’s:

Patient care
Staff workload
Health and wellbeing
Recruitment and retention
Organisational finances

Losing sight of the full picture

Accurate rota patterns are essential for planning and meeting true service capacity. Many clinicians, particularly consultants, work rosters that span the full year, even though they’re only contracted for around 42 of the 52 weeks when allowing for holiday and professional/study leave. If this isn’t properly reflected in job plans, organisations risk underestimating clinical hours available, leading to a shortfall. These are subsequently filled as last-minute gaps – often at premium rates.

In one worked example, misaligned planning for 8 surgeons on a 1-in-8 rota would lead to a shortfall of 230 clinical hours. That’s the equivalent of 420 fewer patients seen annually across clinics and theatres. If the Trust had tried to cover this at late notice, the cost would exceed £40,000 – for just one roster. The true cost to the organisation should be calculated by taking this figure and multiplying across the number of similar working arrangements. Beyond the financial hit, the knock-on effects include less planned care, more cancellations, and growing waiting lists.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a one-off. Across the system, rotas are being built using spreadsheets, outdated systems, and incomplete staffing data – leading to mismatched supply and demand, overworked teams, and missed opportunities to deliver care more efficiently.

Patchwork Health’s Job Planning product, powered by the original L2P technology and co-designed with both clinicians and managers, addresses this head-on. Unlike other job planning systems, its handling of priority activities simplifies accurate rota planning, making it easier to flag capacity risks early and fill gaps at standard rates. The system reflects the realities of NHS working life – where wellbeing, working hours, and professional development are vital to protecting both workforce capacity and patient care.

Making space for what matters most

Matching capacity with demand isn’t just about filling shifts – it’s about making space for the work that matters most. In surgical departments, that might mean reducing usual activity during priority emergency duty cover. But to do that well, you need visibility over who’s available and when.

Good job planning means taking those full 52 weeks into account – even if you’re only working 42. It means forecasting leave, mapping cover, and giving teams a shared, trusted source of truth to build around.

The takeaway? Don’t let your data let you down

If you want job plans that actually work in practice (and don’t crumble under pressure), you need systems that can handle the complexity – and surface the most accurate information at the right time.

Good data isn’t a ‘nice-to-have’, it should be the foundation of all decisions an organisation makes.

Unpacking insights from the NHS Staff Survey 2024 for bank-only workers – Patchwork Health

Joe Crowley — Mon, 12 May 2025 08:49:00 GMT

The NHS Staff Survey continues to act as a vital barometer for the sentiment and experiences of NHS staff across the country. This year, for bank-only workers, the insights reveal both enduring challenges and opportunities for improvement within the workforce. With over 24,000 responses collected, this specialised report sheds light on the experiences of those who work within the NHS bank system.

Beyond the numbers: building a sustainable NHS workforce for 2025 and beyond… – Patchwork Health

Joe Crowley — Thu, 08 May 2025 23:00:00 GMT

The way we discuss our NHS workforce is evolving. Staff are not just a number or a target on a balance sheet; people are rightly recognised as critical enablers of sustainable care delivery. This pivotal shift was the focus of our recent webinar, where we brought together influential voices from across the system. Together, we unpacked the 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance through the lens of workforce transformation.