In 2024/25, we updated our Workforce priorities to better support system-wide goals and respond to national guidance and developments. This included a stronger focus on collaboration, flexibility and supporting staff through change. We worked closely with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Chief People Officers (CPOs) to align our efforts and plan for the future.
One key area of progress was our work on temporary staffing. We began developing a shared approach to manage bank staff across the region, aiming to reduce agency use and improve shift coverage. This could save up to £24 million to support the region’s efforts to improve financial recovery and stability across the system.
Through the Provider Collaborative, we also started work on a central recruitment hub to speed up processes to filling hard-to-recruit clinical roles. Early findings show big differences in how Trusts manage recruitment and we are now working on a shared model. This is in addition to our regional Portability Agreement, which supports faster staff movement between Trusts to meet service needs.
Looking ahead as we navigate system changes, staff wellbeing will remain a priority. Our aim for 2025/26 is to reduce sickness absence by 1% across NENC Providers. To support this, we have launched a new group to review policies, occupational health services and support for staff returning to work.
To help manage planned reductions in corporate staffing, work is also underway as we head into 2025/26 to develop a NENC Redeployment Careers Hub. This will support staff impacted by organisational change and make sure we keep skills and talent within the North East and North Cumbria.
In the year ahead, we will also continue to develop shared staffing models across our providers to ensure we have a workforce that is more joined-up, supportive and ready for the future.
In 2024/2025, we launched the inaugural NExt Board Leaders Programme.
The programme is a bold new step in strengthening Board-level leadership for the future. The first cohort includes 12 aspiring leaders drawn from across our region’s NHS Foundation Trusts, each selected for their potential to shape system-wide thinking and drive transformation.
This innovative programme is a collaboration between the North East and Yorkshire Leadership Academy and the NENC Provider Collaborative, with delivery supported by Northumbria University. Over the course of five intensive development days, participants explore system leadership theory, engage with senior guest speakers, receive executive mentorship and undertake a system placement project designed to tackle real-world challenges.
Running until November 2025, the programme reflects our long-term commitment to succession planning - ensuring we invest in the next generation of decision-makers who will lead our region’s health and care system into the future.
