The NHS’s staffing crisis has long followed a brutal arithmetic: the more hospitals paid agencies to fill shifts, the fewer permanent nurses they could afford to hire. This vicious cycle drained £3.2 billion from NHS coffers between 2020 and 2022, funds that could have employed over 30,000 full-time nurses.
Enter Jack Henderson, the founder of Healsgood, whose AI-driven platform Flexzo AI is rewriting this equation by connecting hospitals directly to a network of 100,000 pre-vetted healthcare professionals with no middlemen and no fees required.
The Cost of Temporary Staffing
The NHS workforce crisis has reached unprecedented levels, with over 112,846 vacancies reported across England by mid-2024. Of these, nearly one-third were nursing positions, a critical shortfall that has forced hospitals to rely heavily on temporary staff sourced through agencies. Between 2020 and 2022 alone, NHS Trusts spent £3.2 billion on agency workers to fill gaps in rotas.
Agency reliance comes at a steep price. Freedom of Information data reveals that these costs could have funded salaries for over 30,000 permanent nurses at top Band 5 pay scales. Instead, hospitals continue paying high commissions, often exceeding 20%, to agencies that profit from the NHS’s staffing struggles.
Flexzo AI offers an alternative that eliminates these fees. Its Collaborative Staff Bank platform connects hospitals directly with pre-vetted healthcare professionals who can update their availability via email or WhatsApp and be matched instantly to open shifts using AI-powered algorithms. By bypassing agencies altogether, the platform helps hospitals save millions annually while offering healthcare workers higher pay rates.
A Smarter Way to Recruit
Flexzo AI’s technology transforms staffing decisions. For example, its compliance management system automates credential verification for DBS checks, professional registrations like NMC and GMC certifications, and Fit-to-Work documents. Preemptive notifications alert users before documents expire, ensuring uninterrupted compliance without manual intervention.
The platform’s insourcing module further addresses staffing shortages by enabling hospitals to activate dormant capacity within their existing workforce. Retired nurses can mentor trainees, and administrators can handle telehealth triage. This is coordinated through AI-driven scheduling tools designed to optimise resources without relying on external agencies.
A Growing Crisis Meets an AI-Driven Solution
As NHS demand continues to grow, projected staff needs will reach up to 2.4 million by 2036. Without intervention, vacancy rates could rise further, exacerbating patient wait times and increasing reliance on temporary staffing solutions that drain budgets.
Flexzo AI’s growth trajectory suggests hope for change. Backed by £1.5 million from Fuel Ventures in early 2025, the company plans to expand its talent pool of healthcare professionals while piloting predictive analytics that forecast staffing gaps weeks in advance based on local infection rates and weather patterns.
