2,000+ former NHS workers return to front line to fight COVID-19

Over 2,000 former NHS workers have returned to the National Health Service in 2020 to help Britain battle the COVID-19 pandemic, statistics we have sourced reveal – another example of why healthcare workers are an asset to the UK.

According to data that WhosOffice gathered under the Freedom of Information Act (2000), 2,150 registered health professionals have re-joined the NHS since March 2020, to support existing front-line workers caring for many of the 300,000+ people in the UK who have been affected by coronavirus to date.

Of the 228 NHS Foundation Trusts we contacted, 76 responded – with 67 confirming that former workers had returned to their hospitals as part of the Bringing Staff Back scheme. Many health professionals came out of retirement to offer their services, while others who redeployed to the private sector also returned to National Health Service.

London and Yorkshire lead the charge

While healthcare practitioners from all four corners of the UK have volunteered their services during the pandemic, the strongest contingent hail from Sussex. Almost a quarter (23.7%) of the total returners came back to hospitals in East and West Sussex, including 160 professionals to East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and a further 158 to Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

London also experienced a major volunteer surge, with 12.2% of all National Health Service returners coming from the capital. 227 former NHS workers went back to work at hospitals within Barts Health NHS Trust alone; more than any other trust.

Other parts of the country with high levels of returning staff include South, East and West Yorkshire (11%), the combined North East counties of Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, County Durham and Cumbria (7.1%) and Staffordshire (6.6%).

Making the most of returning NHS workers

The large influx of former staff during the COVID-19 outbreak shows the dedicated and compassionate nature of the UK’s healthcare workers. NHS trusts have been working hard to use these skilled workers in the best way possible, to provide outstanding patient care.

WhosOffice knows first-hand the commitment and resources that the National Health Service puts into optimising its workforce, as our staff scheduling software is already being used by the NHS to plan shifts effectively.

Team view of planned tasks

Staff know, at anytime what their scheduled tasks for any given shift are

We recently launched a pilot scheme with a leading hospital trust in the South East, to improve the way it co-ordinates staff movements. This included the launch of a brand-new task planning feature, which enables on-duty personnel to look up their task list for each shift in real-time via a mobile app.

Initial results for our task planner trial have been very positive, and we hope that other UK hospital trusts will adopt our shift planning software, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan to introduce electronic rosters across the institution by 2021.

Paying tribute to our health professionals

However returning staff have been deployed in their local hospital trust, it’s clear that their efforts have been hugely valuable in fighting Britain’s coronavirus battle. From royalty to celebrity, well-known faces have been vocal in their appreciation of our care workers, with Prince Charles among the notable figures to visit NHS staff and thank them for their hard work.

In streets up and down the country, households have also shown their gratitude, with thousands taking part in the weekly Clap for Carers each Thursday during March, April and May. Many have also placed rainbow artwork in the windows of their homes as a symbol of hope.

At WhosOffice, we appreciate everything NHS staff are doing to help coronavirus sufferers recover from this terrible disease. We’d like to say a huge THANK YOU to both the 2,150 workers that returned to the NHS during the pandemic, and their colleagues already working within the National Health Service, for the outstanding job they have done to care for those affected by COVID-19.

On a professional level, we will continue collaborating closely with the NHS trust taking part in our task planner scheme, to ensure they can use our software to help front-line teams work effectively during this difficult and demanding time.

If you’d like to see a full breakdown of how many former staff came back to work in each of the hospitals that responded to our Freedom of Information request, scroll down.

If you’d like to find out more about how our shift planning software and task planning and management feature can help the healthcare sector to optimise daily operations, request a free trial.

Health professionals returning to the NHS during COVID-19: full data report