The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay (UHMB) NHS Foundation Trust operates three main acute hospitals across rural Lancashire and South Cumbria. Resourcing healthcare staff was difficult due to the complexity of the region, and since the 2015 Kirkup Report, attracting and retaining staff became increasingly challenging — with agency spend continuing to rise.
Requirement
A sustainable and flexible workforce management model was crucial to serving an ageing local community, alongside a seasonal influx of some 15 million tourists each year. Agency nurse and locum supply chains were each controlled by key suppliers, which led to rate inflation over time. Managing control and transparency of rates and agency charges was difficult due to a lack of accurate financial and workforce planning data. Additional costs were incurred through the use of non-framework agencies to fill last-minute bookings.
Beyond addressing challenges with locum fill rates across five clinical divisions, the Trust needed to limit exposure to cost, quality, and compliance risks arising from non-framework usage.
Solution
Retinue delivered a client care team on-site to act as an extension of the Trust’s HR and resourcing teams, supported by off-site supply chain and vendor management specialists. Retinue implemented its proprietary Vendor Management System (VMS), customised specifically for UHMB to improve visibility, compliance, and cost control.
Through dynamic supplier tiering within nursing subgroups (theatres, midwifery, general and critical), each category benefited from an optimised supply chain. This approach ensured that specialist sub-groups were not left behind in terms of quality, fill rate, or cost efficiency. The implementation transformed agency spend and improved compliance with NHS Improvement price caps across Nursing, Midwifery, Medical Locums, and AHPs.
All bookings were driven by Microsoft Power BI analytics, providing real-time insight into performance data and pinch points. This ensured that decisions were based on accurate metrics and measurable success indicators.
Results
UHMB has achieved year-on-year workforce savings for the past six years through Retinue’s Managed Service Provider (MSP) model and neutral vendor solution.
Key outcomes include:
- 100% of timesheets and invoicing are completed electronically across all categories.
- New agencies introduced and regulated to support niche and hard-to-fill roles.
- Theatre nurses migrated from Tier 2 to Tier 1 agencies, retaining 95% at reduced rates.
- Nursing fill rates improved from 60% pre-contract in some locations to over 95% overall.
- 100% compliance achieved across all agency partners.
- 98% locum fill rate with the most competitive regional rate card.
- £13.9m in sustainable, cash-releasing savings.
Retinue’s proprietary Retinue-Bridge VMS platform enables the Trust to manage electronic bookings, timesheeting, and invoicing, while comparing and ranking agency staff by cost and quality. Automated workflows ensure budgetary control, cap management, and full compliance, giving the Trust full visibility and control over its contingent workforce.