The UK continues to face a significant nursing shortage. Why is this? Well, one of the contributing factors is the population of the UK is living longer, we have an aging population presenting more illness and more disability and putting more pressure on our medical resources. Hospitals and care facilities are understaffed, so sourcing the well qualified staff needed to fill some of these positions is important in keeping our hospitals and care facilities going.
Setting up a nursing agency is a little different from setting up a regular recruitment agency; it’s a specialist form of recruitment. Although this is a niche area, having experience in recruitment is a significant advantage. While it’s not necessary to have in-depth knowledge of the nursing industry itself, first-hand recruitment experience is essential in order to understand the processes of sourcing, screening, and matching candidates with the right nursing roles.
You’ll need a comprehensive business plan, which will include but is not limited to laying out your goals, your project timeline, projected financial plan, and marketing strategy. In nursing recruitment, your plan should also address compliance requirements, worker screening, and the high demand for nurses in the UK. Many of the pointers given here are the same as those we would give for starting any recruitment agency; we have further information on our how to start a recruitment agency blog.
Do your research; knowing your market is vitally important when you’re beginning any new venture. This means knowing your competitors, identifying if and where there is a gap in the market you might fill, and identifying who your target audience will be. In healthcare recruitment, your primary clients will often be hospitals, care homes, and other healthcare facilities. So building relationships with these organisations is key. Not only will you need to define your audience, your potential clients, but plan where your base of clients will come from, where you will find them.
Plan your brand. You need to speak to your target market (which you have already identified), so ensure the language you use, the colours you pick, the logo, and the name reflect the brand and service you will be presenting to your clients. In the healthcare sector, reliability, trust and professionalism are essential, so your brand should reflect these values.
Developing your online presence should be covered in the marketing segment of your business plan, but the importance of being online is so vital that we’re outlining it here. It has become fairly simple to create your own website. Not having the funds to have a website built for you is no longer a barrier to creating a really informative site on WordPress or Squarespace for example. Online is how the majority of workers will find you, so carry your branding across to your website and provide useful content and clear information here.
It’s always necessary for recruitment agencies to take out workers’ insurance. When you’re running a nursing agency, your nurses are giving patient care and therefore may be open to a higher risk in their day-to-day jobs.
Screening for your workers is mandatory in healthcare recruitment, and must include enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks, verification of qualifications, and reference checks to ensure compliance with legal and industry standards. As you are the point of introduction between your workers and your clients, you need to know that your workers are qualified, professional individuals.
Figure out if you need to be registered or not. If your agency only supplies staff to hospitals or care homes, CQC (Care Quality Commission) registration is typically not required. However, if your staff are providing care directly to individuals in their homes, you will need to register with the Care Quality Commission. It’s always a good idea to confirm your specific requirements with the CQC to ensure compliance.
Have patience. You won’t build a client base or a base of nursing staff overnight. Healthcare recruitment is competitive, and it may take time to build a strong network of clients and candidates. If you have planned well, your agency will grow. Having the patience and the drive to work to find a strong pool of both clients and candidates is going to be vitally important in building a successful agency.
