Sally – Matron at UCLH

Sally has worked with Bank Partners, firstly as a ward sister and now as a matron, since they started managing the UCLH staff bank in 2008. She works in GI Services and covers three wards caring for patients within GI medicine and surgery, including colorectal, bariatrics and upper GI.

“We use bank staff to fill our vacancies whilst we recruit permanent staff (many of our permanent staff first worked with us through the bank), but also to cover short-term absence and provide one-to-one cover when needed” she tells us, adding, “We aim to get our available shifts on iPoint at least six weeks in advance so that bank staff can select when they want to be available to work, but we also want people who are available at short notice.”

The staff bank provides many of the staff on Sally’s wards, giving them an opportunity to work in a busy GI ward environment. Registered nursing staff who work on the wards regularly are offered the chance to enhance their skills by completing training modules such as IV drug administration, enteral nutrition administration and vac therapy dressings. Bank nursing assistants are offered the chance to care for acutely unwell patients (with the support of our regular NAs and nursing staff), providing stoma care and individual one-to-one care for patients with increased needs.