Client Overview
The Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust operates several hospitals providing emergency, intensive, maternity, paediatric care, and specialist treatments. The Trust is home to world-class research facilities, supporting cutting-edge medical research. Affiliated with the University of Cambridge, it provides education opportunities for medical students, trainee doctors, and healthcare professionals. The Trust plays a vital role in the UK healthcare system, providing high-quality medical care, advancing medical research, and training the next generation of healthcare professionals.
The Challenges
The Trust faced difficulties in recruiting two business-critical System Support Analysts for their Business Services team. These analysts were to be responsible for configuring business systems in line with functional requirements and customer requests, as well as working closely with end-users to implement system usage and data monitoring metrics. Additionally, the Analysts would act as a Business Analyst support service by identifying business needs, processes, and risks, and developing them into IT-specific business system requirement specifications before implementing them into the business environment.
However, the Trust encountered issues due to the lengthy NHS jobs process, which resulted in many candidates getting lost in a large pool of applicants. The Trust also struggled to attract the right calibre of candidates, particularly for these specialised positions.
Despite their best efforts, the Trust was unable to fill these roles through organic recruitment and had previously tried working with another recruitment agency. Regrettably, the experience was poor, as the candidates were inadequately prepared for interviews, and the quality of their CVs was subpar. Despite initial reluctance to try another agency, the Trust eventually decided to work with Understanding Recruitment NFP and found us to be highly effective.
The Solution
The Trust's procurement team awarded us exclusivity for a recruitment project, thanks to our place on the CCS framework. This access allowed our team to provide a calibre of candidates that the Trust wouldn't have otherwise been able to access. We had the opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities before the client went out to any other agencies, and we quickly sent strong CVs within a few days. As a result, the Trust decided to only use our services going forward.
The Understanding Recruitment team took a proactive approach to understanding the job roles, hosting multiple meetings with the client and providing regular check-ins and support for screening calls and interviews. We also created bespoke advertisements that specifically mentioned the NHS, generating a substantial volume of applicants. We even offered to create custom marketing collateral to help position the Trust in the best possible way.
Understanding Recruitment recognised that salaries within the NHS are fixed within the Agenda for Change bandings. However, we provided evidence of the candidate market and average salaries within the Public Sector and advised the Trust that to secure the desired calibre of candidates, they needed to revise certain requirements within the positions and potentially look at the upper end of the bandings. The Trust took this advice on board and offered a new streamlined interview process as well as being able to immediately offer at the top end of the banding, which helped secure the placements.
Results
Within a timeframe of just four weeks, Understanding Recruitment NFP successfully secured two System Support Analyst roles for the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. This was accomplished through sending just seven CVs, conducting three first interviews, three second interviews, and making two offers resulting in two successful placements.
The impact of working with Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was significant for us, as it enabled them to refine our recruitment services within the NHS and expand our portfolio of clients within the Public Sector. In addition to multiple Trusts and organisations such as NHS Resolution and NHS BSA, Understanding Recruitment now possesses the credibility and proven ability to deliver successful recruitment solutions not only within the National Health Service but throughout the Public Sector.
Conclusion
In just four weeks, Understanding Recruitment successfully secured two System Support Analyst roles for the Trust, sending only seven CVs, conducting three first interviews, three second interviews, and making two offers resulting in two successful placements. The recruitment process was streamlined, with Understanding Recruitment creating bespoke advertisements and offering custom marketing collateral, as well as providing guidance on salaries and the candidate market. The successful placement of these business-critical positions has had a significant impact on the Trust and enabled us to expand our portfolio of clients in the Public Sector. The case study demonstrates the effectiveness of a targeted and collaborative approach to recruitment and highlights the value of specialist recruitment agencies in filling highly skilled and specialist positions.
