Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust runs three hospitals in Nottinghamshire. They were facing a huge shortage of nurses with 185 vacant roles. Bank staff were providing cover but this was causing costs to spiral out of control.
KNOW
We got to the heart of the problem by asking nurses in neighbouring counties why they hadn’t applied. The insights we gained completely changed our approach. Many didn’t know the Trust existed and those that did through it too far to travel for shifts. All nurses wanted scope for development and the CQC rating didn’t factor into their decision at all.
FEEL
Our recruitment campaign was strong, yet simple. We tweaked the Trust’s strapline, adding three letters to completely shift the emphasis: Dedicated to outstanding careers. Communication messages focussed on the team, the opportunities, and the Trust being closer than you think. Finally, the call to action appeared in an arrow device pointing towards the SFH logo to drive awareness.
DO
The Trust recruited a large number of nurses for the vacant roles, meaning they were less reliant on bank nurses and considerably reduced their overheads. The campaign was so successful, it won an award for Best Use of Research and Evaluation.
