Health platform Florence announces new app to help solve staffing crisis

Florence has announced the launch of its new app ‘Florence for Business’, designed to help tackle the staffing crisis currently gripping  the healthcare industry. 

The new app further elevates Florence’s offering for care homes, NHS trusts and domiciliary care providers by making filling shifts easy, seamless and more efficient.

Users can now post and manage shifts on the go on the app, populating staff rotas and schedules via a simple, clear and flexible tool. Managers will have access to over 90,000 workers, carers and support workers and can accept or reject applicants and fill shifts directly from the applicant pool.

Florence is on a mission to fix the healthcare staffing gap. The company empowers nurses and other healthcare professionals to find flexible, fair, and transparent work options.

It also enables long-term care homes, hospitals, and other organisations to sustainably fill open shifts in their schedule with highly skilled and vetted healthcare workers.

As it currently stands, the healthcare sector is beset by an epidemic lack of flexibility and difficulties when it comes to organising and filling shifts.

A recent study of over 1,000 health and social care workers, conducted by Florence found nine in 10 (89%) NHS and social care workers say chronic staff shortages are affecting the quality of care.

Three quarters (76%) say quality of care is already being ‘severely’ impacted as high vacancy rates sweep across the industry.

Tech innovation is at the core of the Florence product to help drive positive change in the healthcare sector. Healthcare organisations using the Florence app save up to 30% on their agency spend by connecting directly with workers, rather than using an agency middleman.

In March, Florence was accepted as one of the 23 participants on the AWS Healthcare Accelerator for Workforce, a reflection on its position as an industry leader in the space.

Training portal and new course on offer

After experiencing standout growth year on year in the UK since 2017 and a $35 million Series B funding round in 2022, the news is the latest commitment by Florence to support the health and social care sector.

The company has built an online training portal, Florence Academy, aimed at helping support professional development and upskilling of healthcare workers. The company also has launched a new Pathway to Care programme.

The course is free of charge, designed to help school leavers (15-19 year olds) learn key skills and build experience ahead of starting a Care Certificate or a nursing degree.

Dr. Charles Armitage, CEO and founder of Florence, said: “The Florence for Business App is a major step for the company as we continue to use technology to improve the healthcare sector. Staffing and vacancy rates across the sector are at the highest levels in years, with quality of care suffering as a result.

“We know that the healthcare professionals are facing insurmountable pressure on a daily basis, the ongoing staffing crisis across the sector is forcing healthcare managers into a constant state of crisis.

“Filling shift vacancies, often urgently, is clearly becoming a challenge that managers have to deal with more and more frequently. This app is an important development in Florence’s portfolio and highlights Florence’s commitment to alleviate the pressure by making staffing as seamless as possible.”

The app is available to care organisations to use once they’ve completed registration with Florence. Users can start the registration process by signing up here.