Join me in taking a look back over the past 12 months, and expressing our sincere thanks to all healthcare workers

As the new year fast approaches, it’s time to reflect on a busy and memorable 2022.

It has been incredible to witness the resilience shown by our health and care staff in the face of the significant pressures the past 12 months have presented. Across the NHS and wider healthcare system, collaboration and innovation have remained pivotal to supporting the continued delivery of outstanding patient care. 

From the formalisation of Integrated Care Systems in July, to the large-scale coordination of vaccinations against COVID-19, healthcare staff have come together to collectively face new challenges with unfailing dedication. Meanwhile, innovation has continued to be crucial in offering new modes of support for healthcare staff and organisations. 

To mark the end of another critical year for the health service, and to reflect on our journey at Patchwork over the last 12 months, I have shared a few of our key highlights and milestones below. I believe it’s hugely valuable to take a look back and celebrate the positive change we’ve been able to make together - helping to build a happier, more sustainable healthcare workforce for now and the years ahead. 

Celebrating new partnerships

This year, we’ve partnered with a number of fantastic healthcare organisations to together deliver more flexible, sustainable workforce solutions, some of which include:

• King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust launched a temporary staff bank which is helping to unlock flexible working for clinicians Trust-wide, while enabling managers to more easily monitor staffing levels. 
• Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust now has access to a new internal staff bank platform, in conjunction with our Agency Manger solution, to help manage temporary staffing in an efficient and cost-effective way. 
• Joined Up Care Derbyshire’s new workforce model is now enabling reservist workers to deliver a truly integrated approach to care, supporting service delivery across the region.
• Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust is set to launch a medical staff bank in the New Year, to support flexible and sustainable temporary staffing across the Trust.
• We also rolled out the National COVID Agency Vaccination Program, in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement and Lead Employer organisations. Using our Agency Manager platform, we have together supported the deployment of temporary workers throughout COVID-19 booster vaccination drives and accelerated the number of trained vaccinators.  

We’ve also begun working with a number of other new partners over the past few months, which we can’t wait to announce in the New Year - watch this space! 

2 year anniversary of the UK’s largest NHS collaborative staff bank

In November, the North West Doctors in Training Collaborative Bank celebrated two years since its launch during the pandemic. Led by St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the collaborative staff bank has welcomed 24 Trusts (including East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust most recently), staffed over 171,000 shift hours and helped retain more than £6m in staffing costs. 

As the biggest NHS collaborative staffing initiative in the UK, we were proud to see our shared achievements recognised as winners of the HSJ’s Staffing Solution of the Year at their 2022 Partnership Awards. 

Raising £20m to help tackle the NHS staffing crisis

As a company, we had some exciting news to share over the summer, as we raised £20m in Series B funding from some fantastic investors to accelerate our mission to help address NHS staffing shortages. 

A huge thank you to all of the investors who joined the round - including Perwyn , Praetura Ventures and KHP Ventures , as well as a number of angel investors, including Monzo Founder Tom Bloomfield and Social Chain Co-Founder Dominic McGregor . 

Launching our Agency Manager solution

While reducing over-reliance on temporary staffing agencies to fill vacancies is certainly a priority for healthcare organisations, we recognise that agency staff are often a necessary last resort to maintain safe staffing levels. So this year saw the introduction of our Agency Manager tool, which acts as a staffing safety net for managers, to help fill shift vacancies when needed, compliantly and in the most cost-effective way. When a shift cannot be filled by bank, the solution enables managers to source an appropriate agency worker in a seamless way. You can find out more here. 

Growing the Patchwork Health team

As we continue to support a growing number of healthcare organisations, with an expanding range of workforce tools, our team has welcomed a number of talented people onboard, who are dedicated to our partners and shared mission. Throughout 2022, 64 people joined the Patchwork team, adding expertise and talent to our Product, Engineering, Implementation, Marketing and Customer Care teams.

Alongside our work to drive this mission forward, we continue to come together as a team to take on challenges for charity. By far the biggest of these was an epic Paris to Brussels cycle ride in aid of Alzheimer's Society . A huge thank you to everyone who donated to this amazing cause, to help us raise over  £3,000 in total.

Refreshing our visual identity to reflect 6 years of growth

As we reflected on how much has changed since we launched Patchwork 6 years ago, it seemed like the right time for our brand to undergo a refresh. While we remain guided by the same core principles and goals which inspire our mission to deliver flexibility and sustainable staffing across the healthcare workforce, the ways in which we do this have developed significantly. 

So to reflect this evolution, and the fundamental values that we have carried forward from day one, we’ve updated our visual identity. You can find out about this exciting change here.

Our Top Tips and Thought Leadership from 2022

Alongside insights from our fantastic healthcare partners, and using our expertise on workforce management, we have shared a range of recommendations, advice and thought leadership throughout the year to support those working across the sector. Here are a few useful highlights:

• Integrated Care Journal: Building sustainable ICS staffing to weather the workforce crisis
• The Times: What I learnt about flexible working in the NHS
• Silicon Canals: 5 unexpected ways being a doctor helped me become a better founder

We were also delighted to be featured in The Financial Times, The Independent, The Guardian, Sky News , Sifted and BMJ. 

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To all of our wonderful healthcare partners, colleagues, investors and supporters, thank you for working with us to achieve so much over the past 12 months. 

And to all NHS clinicians and managers, we want to say a huge thank you for your commitment to delivering outstanding patient care this year and during this challenging winter. You are the reason we are on this journey. Your dedication inspires us to keep going, keep building and keep pushing for a stronger, more sustainable future for all NHS staff.