Weekly pay offered to bank staff at Shropshire's two acute hospitals

The change at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) was introduced on 1 April 2018 in response to feedback from employees.

Bank staff, which included nurses, healthcare assistants, porters, domestics and medical records staff, means patients are more likely to receive consistent care that’s aligned to SaTH’s values as an organisation.

Victoria Maher, Workforce Director, said: “If you’re doing bit of work here and there, a month is a long time to wait to get paid.

“Weekly pay gives more immediate gratification. Like all incentives, it encourages loyalty.”

SaTH, which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) and Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital, wants to reduce its reliance on agency nurses by increasing its own bank of staff who can either work regularly or who can pick up shifts at short notice.

The Trust has held a number of successful One Stop Shop recruitment events in recent months and is about to embark on a second drive to attract nurses from all over the West Midlands. The campaign will include adverts on the back of buses that travel along the main routes in Shrewsbury, Telford, Stoke and Wolverhampton, posters and banners throughout the hospitals, adverts in the local press and targeted email and social media activity.

Bank Nursing is often seen as desirable due to the flexibility it can offer but what many people don’t realise is that because Bank workers can access the NHS Pension scheme and other benefits, the overall remuneration package is on a par with many agencies.

Victoria added: “We have to use agency staff to ensure we have enough staff on duty to provide safe care for our patients, but we would rather use our own Bank staff as much as possible, not just because of the cost but because they provide better continuity of care for our patients.

“This Nurse Bank campaign complements the Belongtosomething campaign we launched two years ago to promote the Trust as widely as possible.”