Beating the NHS backlog - The scale of the challenge we now face

As the effects of the unprecedented global pandemic still ripple throughout the globe, health services everywhere are struggling to recover from the setback and get things functioning how they were previously. The NHS backlog poses a significant challenge here in the UK, one that requires a multifaceted solution, including making locum work more accessible to healthcare staff, perhaps even outside of their usual roles.

The scale of the challenge

Prior to the pandemic, in February 2020 there was a waiting list of 4.43 million. The latest figures in October 2022 show that there's a record high of almost 7.21 million people waiting for treatment. The highest since comparable records began!  This obviously puts healthcare staff under tremendous pressure, as well as causing anxiety for patients who don't have a clear idea of when they will be seen to.

Staff are exhausted

Exhausted staff are being required to work tirelessly to help the NHS reduce the backlog. Many people are voicing concerns that too much is being expected of staff and the burden is too great, with some suggesting that the only sensible solution is for healthcare staff to take on locum work.

Looking overseas for staffing solutions could also be an effective method of shifting some of the weight from the shoulders of the overworked NHS employees and making visas more readily available for the people we need in different countries to complete locum work would also be a wise move.

The state of NHS workers is being described as 'burnout', defined by The World Health Organisation as a syndrome developing from chronic workplace stress that is not adequately managed. After over-stretching themselves both professionally and personally, these heroes of the modern age are quite rightly feeling stressed, tired and cynical.

What can be done

Imagine working so hard for so long to protect those under your care as well as your family and the wider community, only to then be asked to continue working even harder for the foreseeable future.

As these valued healthcare workers have protected us over the last two years, it is now our moral duty to offer them a hand in return, which is exactly what we at Globe Locums set out to do.

We offer to help with the contingent workforce requirements of the NHS by providing healthcare professionals that are flexible and ready to step in. By advertising locum healthcare roles across the UK and beyond, we help match healthcare professionals to where they are needed most. As a specialist healthcare recruitment firm, we are dedicated to helping tackle the NHS backlog and support our NHS staff through the COVID pandemic and beyond.

Visit our job directory to find the locum role to suit you. Whether you are a clinician, psychologist, nurse, doctor or physio, Globe Locums can find the position for you.