Case Study: Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
By Gemma Raw
“Sanctuary Health has been supplying AWP with nursing staff for some time and I can honestly say that they have been a pleasure to work with. They have a real understanding of the staffing pressures that we face, and their help has been invaluable to keep our wards staffing at required level. Their consultants are diligent in finding us the dependable, reliable and knowledgeable staff both Qualified and Healthcare Assistants. I would certainly be happy to recommend Sanctuary.” - Clare Pittaway, Bank Team Leader, Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
Sanctuary Health has been supporting Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) with its recruitment since December 2013.
The Challenge
As with many NHS Trusts delivering crucial mental health services, AWP was struggling to find a recruitment agency that was able to provide a resourcing solution for all its community roles. Being rural, they had limited success with local recruitment agencies who did not have the same talent pool of mental health professionals to draw from.
The Solution
Sanctuary Health was quick to identify suitable candidates; those we knew would be interested in working in the community settings identified by the Trust. Most importantly, we were able to assist the hiring managers with recruiting multi-disciplinary teams.
We swiftly placed fully compliant ready-to-work community mental health nurses (CPNs) as well as social workers in addition to the following roles:
Support workers
Psychologists
Offender health nurses
RMNs
CAMHS nurses
Occupational Therapists
Over a five-year period, we have placed over 100 candidates with the Trust. Impressed by Sanctuary Health’s ability to find highly qualified mental health professionals, the Trust asked us to recruit candidates for its inpatient roles where we are offering the same level of placement fulfilment.
By tapping into Sanctuary’s extensive talent pool of healthcare professionals, the Trust is also meeting its obligations to cap and control pay in accordance with the NHSi capped rates. Previously, this had been a difficult task.
Today, we are proud to say that we remain one of Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust’s largest suppliers of community staff and we work hard to supply the Trust with a broader range of candidates across multiple localities.
