NHS Professionals
A publicly owned UK workforce organisation supplying temporary clinical and non-clinical staff and workforce-management services to the National Health Service.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
NHS Professionals is a United Kingdom workforce-services organisation focused on supplying temporary and flexible staff to the National Health Service. Its central operating model is a membership bank: healthcare professionals join as Bank Members and can undertake flexible shifts, short-term assignments, and longer placements at participating NHS trusts and other health and care organisations. The membership includes nurses, midwives, healthcare support workers, doctors, allied health professionals, healthcare scientists, social workers, and a broad range of non-clinical workers such as administrators, finance staff, estates and facilities personnel, managers, and information-technology specialists. The organisation was created by the Department of Health in 2001 as a national staffing service. Its original purpose was to address concerns about the cost, quality, and consistency of temporary nursing provision while also recognising that many NHS workers wanted more flexible ways to work. From 2001 to 2003, services were delivered through four host NHS trusts. In 2004, the Department of Health established NHS Professionals as a Special Health Authority to create greater consistency across the service. It was reorganised again in September 2008, when it became a private limited company wholly owned by the Department of Health. NHS Professionals remains publicly owned, although it operates on a self-funding basis and no longer receives routine financial support from its shareholder department. It earns revenue through fees charged to client NHS trusts for managing flexible-workforce requirements and covering its operating costs. The organisation has also been used as a public-sector alternative to private temporary-staffing agencies, with the goal of improving workforce visibility, reducing agency expenditure, and strengthening recruitment, compliance, and communications. Its services extend beyond supplying individual shifts. Through managed-service arrangements, NHS Professionals can manage elements of a trust’s temporary workforce operation, including recruitment, shift filling, worker compliance, training, on-site support, and workforce communications. It works with more than 130 acute and community NHS trusts and other health and care organisations across the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands. In the 2021–22 financial year, the organisation reported that its Bank Members worked approximately 4.6 million shifts, representing about 39 million hours of care. The organisation expanded its offer in 2016 with Doctors Direct, a dedicated locum recruitment service, and NHS Professionals International, which recruits overseas nurses and midwives for NHS roles. It subsequently established an Academy providing education and training services for members and clients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, NHS Professionals supported national efforts to increase the available healthcare workforce. Its Rapid Response service brought additional workers into the NHS from existing bank members as well as retired, trainee, and private-sector personnel. It also supported staffing for Test and Trace, the National Vaccination Programme, and NHS Nightingale hospitals. In 2016, the government announced plans to sell a 75% stake in NHS Professionals. The proposal attracted substantial criticism and was abandoned in September 2017. The Department of Health subsequently confirmed that the organisation would remain wholly publicly owned. NHS Professionals is headquartered in Hemel Hempstead and maintains regional offices and teams embedded at NHS trusts across England. Its public ownership, national reach, and emphasis on flexible staffing distinguish it from commercial recruitment agencies while its operational structure remains that of a self-funding company serving institutional healthcare clients.
History
NHS Professionals originated in 2001, when the Department of Health established a national staffing service in response to concerns about the expense and quality of temporary nursing staff used by the NHS. The initiative also reflected a workforce trend: some NHS clinicians and support workers wanted to combine public-sector healthcare work with more flexible scheduling. Rather than relying exclusively on commercial agencies, the service created a central bank of workers who could take shifts across participating NHS organisations. During its first operating phase, from 2001 to 2003, NHS Professionals was delivered through four host NHS trusts. This decentralised arrangement resulted in differences in how the service performed and was managed. To reduce those variations, the Department of Health established NHS Professionals as a Special Health Authority in 2004, giving it a more nationally coordinated structure. A further reorganisation took place in September 2008, when NHS Professionals was incorporated as a private limited company. Despite the corporate form, it remained wholly owned by the Department of Health. The change allowed the organisation to operate with a company structure while retaining a public-service mission centred on NHS workforce requirements. It later became self-funding, generating income from fees paid by client NHS trusts rather than relying on ongoing financial support from the department. The organisation’s role broadened from supplying temporary workers to managing wider workforce processes. Its services came to include recruitment, shift allocation, compliance, training, communications, on-site support, and managed-service operations for trusts seeking to control temporary staffing more systematically. Its Bank Members came to cover both clinical roles and non-clinical functions, including administration, finance, estates, facilities, management, and information technology. In 2016, NHS Professionals created two specialist divisions. Doctors Direct focused on locum doctor recruitment, while NHS Professionals International supported overseas recruitment of nurses and midwives for NHS employers. The organisation later added an Academy intended to provide education and training for members and clients. These developments expanded the brand from a temporary staffing bank into a broader NHS workforce-services platform. Ownership became a major strategic issue in the middle of the 2010s. In 2016, the government announced an intention to sell a 75% stake in NHS Professionals. The proposal was criticised, and on 7 September 2017 the health minister Philip Dunne announced that the sale plans had been abandoned. The Department of Health subsequently stated that NHS Professionals would remain in wholly public ownership. The COVID-19 pandemic created an exceptional demand for additional healthcare personnel. In March 2020, NHS Professionals launched a Rapid Response service and worked with national health authorities to expand the available workforce. Its reported activities included recruiting healthcare workers from its existing membership and from retired, trainee, and private-sector pools, as well as supplying staff for Test and Trace, the National Vaccination Programme, and NHS Nightingale hospitals. NHS Professionals is headquartered at Breakspear Park in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, and also operates regional offices and teams located at NHS trusts across England. It serves acute and community trusts and other health and care organisations in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands. By 2021–22, the organisation reported that its Bank Members had worked approximately 4.6 million shifts, equivalent to about 39 million hours of care. In the same financial year, it returned an £18 million dividend to its sole shareholder, the Department of Health and Social Care. Its current model combines public ownership with commercial-style self-funding and national workforce operations.
- 2022
Reported 4.6 million bank shifts in 2021–22
[1]The organisation reported 4.6 million shifts and 39 million hours of care delivered by Bank Members during the 2021–22 financial year.
- 2020
Rapid Response launched during COVID-19
[1]A rapid recruitment and deployment service was introduced to help meet the NHS’s urgent pandemic staffing needs.
- 2017
Proposed privatisation abandoned
[1]The government dropped plans to sell a 75% stake, preserving NHS Professionals as a wholly publicly owned organisation.
- 2016
Launch of Doctors Direct and NHS Professionals International
[1]Two specialist divisions were introduced for locum doctor recruitment and international recruitment of nurses and midwives.
- 2008
Incorporated as a private limited company
[1]NHS Professionals was incorporated as a company while remaining wholly owned by the Department of Health.
- 2004
Established as a Special Health Authority
[1]The organisation was given Special Health Authority status to address inconsistent performance across its original host-trust structure.
- 2001
National staffing service created
[1]The Department of Health formed NHS Professionals to provide a more coordinated source of temporary NHS staff and support flexible working.
Products and positioning
A publicly owned, NHS-focused workforce partner offering flexible staffing, locum recruitment, international recruitment, and managed temporary-workforce services as an alternative or complement to private staffing agencies.
Flexible clinical and non-clinical staffing · 2001
NHS Professionals Bank
The core Bank Members platform connects NHS trusts with healthcare and support professionals seeking flexible shifts or longer temporary placements. It covers nurses, midwives, doctors, healthcare support workers, allied health professionals, healthcare scientists, social workers, and non-clinical personnel. The bank model gives trusts an organised alternative or supplement to private agency staffing while allowing workers to choose assignments compatible with their availability.
Locum doctor recruitment · 2016
Doctors Direct
Doctors Direct is NHS Professionals’ specialist service for recruiting and placing locum doctors. It extends the organisation’s bank and workforce model into medical staffing, helping NHS organisations address short-term and temporary doctor requirements through a dedicated recruitment channel.
International healthcare recruitment · 2016
NHS Professionals International
NHS Professionals International recruits overseas nurses and midwives for employment in the NHS. The service supports NHS workforce expansion by sourcing qualified professionals internationally and connecting them with participating NHS employers.
Workforce management
Managed Service Provider
The Managed Service Provider function takes operational responsibility for elements of a client organisation’s temporary workforce. Activities can include recruitment, shift filling, worker compliance, training, on-site support, communications, and marketing, with the stated objective of improving control and reducing dependence on private staffing agencies.
Education and training
NHS Professionals Academy
The Academy provides education and training services for NHS Professionals members and client organisations. It forms part of the organisation’s broader workforce offer by supporting professional development and client workforce capability.
Marketing campaigns
- 2020Rapid Response
United Kingdom
NHS Professionals created Rapid Response to help the NHS recruit and deploy additional healthcare workers during the COVID-19 crisis. The initiative drew on Bank Members and additional pools including retired staff, trainees, and private-sector workers.
Outcome. The organisation reported recruiting approximately 20,000 healthcare workers into the NHS and supporting staffing for other pandemic programmes.
- 2020National COVID-19 workforce support
United Kingdom
During the pandemic, NHS Professionals worked with national health authorities to provide staff for Test and Trace, the National Vaccination Programme, and NHS Nightingale hospitals.
Outcome. The organisation reported recruiting around 10,000 people for Test and Trace and 17,000 people for the National Vaccination Programme, alongside additional staffing for Nightingale hospitals.
Brand decisions
2020
Rapid workforce mobilisation for COVID-19StrategyBackground
The pandemic created an urgent need for additional clinical and support staff across the NHS.
Action taken
NHS Professionals launched Rapid Response and mobilised existing and newly recruited workers for NHS services and national pandemic programmes.
Aftermath
The organisation reported substantial recruitment for the NHS, Test and Trace, vaccination delivery, and Nightingale hospitals.
2016
Government proposes sale of a 75% stakeM&ABackground
The UK government considered selling a majority stake in NHS Professionals as part of a proposed change to the organisation’s ownership.
Action taken
A proposal was made to sell 75% of the organisation to private investors.
Aftermath
Following criticism, the proposed sale was abandoned in September 2017 and NHS Professionals remained wholly publicly owned.
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