The NHS is facing the biggest staffing crisis in its history.

But as the UK's largest employer, the NHS will soon have a large levy fund to spend on apprenticeships. Using this money to train staff in-house will help trusts create a more stable workforce, and reduce their dependency on agency staff.

Training apprentices is still a big investment to make, but with the right training tools at your disposal, it's a lot less expensive than you think.

"OneFile has saved us thousands."

OneFile is the UK's leading apprenticeship eportfolio, and our innovative software is already used by 18 NHS trusts across the UK. With OneFile, you can manage all your training, assessment, inspection and quality assurance processes using one unified system – saving time, eliminating paper and significantly reducing costs.

North Bristol NHS Trust has been using OneFile for 2 years, and have now moved all 435 learners onto our software. Before the switch, they completed all training on paper:

"OneFile has already saved us over 84,921 sheets – which is 170 reams of paper. Stacked on top of each other, this pile of paper would be taller than a 2-storey house! We've also saved over £400 in paper alone – not to mention printing, postage, staffing and storage costs which already run into the thousands!"

OneFile significantly improves the learner experience too. With OneFile, learners are more motivated and can easily log on to study anytime, anywhere. This has had a huge impact on course completion times across North Bristol Trust:

"Since moving to OneFile, the length of time on programme has reduced on average by 1-2 months for level 2 learners, and 4-5 months for level 3 learners - which means it now takes 23% less time for a level 3 learner to become fully qualified. We now have a 90.48% timely completion rate – which is 20% higher than the national average."

With the apprenticeship levy now in force, NHS trusts will be required to increase their apprenticeship numbers to 2.3% of their total employees – and OneFile will play a fundamental role in this. With a digital system in place, NHS trusts will be able to increase assessor caseloads, reduce storage costs, boost achievement rates and save money. In fact, OneFile delivers financial savings in paper, printing, travel and time – delivering ROI of up to 500%.

 

"Without OneFile, we would have been overwhelmed with increased paperwork and storage needs, so using a digital system will open up the opportunity for us to increase our apprenticeship delivery in the near future."

Yvonne Greenwood, North Bristol NHS Trust

At OneFile, we feel privileged to be able to make a difference to the future of the NHS. Our apprenticeship software is used by 18 NHS trusts – and now it's been given the royal seal of approval. OneFile is the proud winner of the 2017 Queens Award for Innovation.

The Queens Award is one of the most prestigious accolades for UK businesses, so we’re proud to be bringing it back to the North West! Our cofounders, Chris Whalley and Susanna Lawson, will be collecting our award from Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace later on in the year, and are thrilled to have a royal addition to our award cabinet!