Calderstones NHS Trust was looking to fill a high profile interim position and needed a candidate who had the experience to write and deliver a full business case for the acquisition of Calderstones NHS Trust by Merseycare NHS Trust. It was essential that the successful candidate was familiar with dealing with the Trust Development Authority and Monitor (now NHS England). With this in mind, the level of service and screening process, as well as the candidates, needed to be of the highest quality.

The Trusts chose to use the Crown Commercial Service Non Medical Non Clinical (RM971 now RM6160) agreement as a compliant route to market to help them find a suitable supplier and ultimately a candidate.

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Castlefield Recruitment, an NHS specialist, was appointed as the supplier and quickly and efficiently provided a shortlist of high calibre interim options for the role. By using the agreement, the Trust was able to receive the quality service they required and benefit from access to a transparent rate card as well as the guarantee that the supplier had been through a thorough screening process.

The Trust has saved £60,000 alone on this placement, which highlights the potential for substantial savings to be achieved year on year by using NHS Improvement approved agreements. Using the agreement also gave the Trust peace of mind that the necessary candidate checks had all been completed.

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