Healthcare HR Services for the NHS, Primary Care and Care Providers
Specialist human resources support from consultants who have worked inside the NHS.
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People are the heart of healthcare, and they are also its greatest management challenge. Clinical rotas, national terms and conditions, CQC scrutiny and persistent staffing shortages create HR pressures that a generalist consultant simply hasn’t lived through. Centric HR has.
Our healthcare HR consultants have worked within the NHS, alongside GP partners and across regulated care settings. That experience means we understand Agenda for Change, professional registration, clinical governance and the realities of managing people when patient safety is on the line. Whether you run a single GP practice, a care home or an acute trust, we provide human resources support for healthcare organisations that protects your compliance and frees your leaders to focus on patients.
We are renowned for our specialist experience within the NHS
Who We Support
NHS Trusts and Health Boards
Workforce transformation, efficiency reviews, complex employee relations and change programmes, delivered by consultants with direct NHS experience and an understanding of Agenda for Change, medical terms and conditions, and board-level governance.
GP Practices and Primary Care Networks
Day-to-day HR support built for general practice, from contracts and absence to partnership-sensitive casework, available through our fixed price packages so you always know the cost before you pick up the phone.
Care Homes and Domiciliary Care
Practical HR support for CQC-regulated care providers, including safer recruitment, right to work and DBS processes, absence and retention challenges, and the people evidence that inspection requires.
Private and Independent Healthcare
Flexible HR consultancy for private clinics, dental practices, pharmacies and independent providers, tailored to your size and stage.
Specialist HR Services for Healthcare Organisations
Alongside day-to-day HR support, we provide specialist services that general HR providers rarely offer.
- Cultural reviews. We carry out independent cultural reviews for NHS Trusts and healthcare organisations, providing an objective, fair and evidence-based assessment of concerns, handled sensitively for everyone involved.
- Equality, diversity and inclusion. Having NHS workforce policies in place is not enough on its own. We help managers apply them confidently across diverse clinical and non-clinical teams, and build the practical evidence that shows your organisation takes inclusion seriously.
- Professional registration and clinical casework. When employment issues overlap with professional registration or clinical concerns, we help you manage the HR process alongside your regulatory obligations, working with specialist NHS employment solicitors where needed.
- Agenda for Change and commercial equivalents. We advise NHS bodies and independent providers on pay, banding and terms that align with, or are benchmarked against, Agenda for Change.
Our Specialist NHS Partners
Who can enhance our workforce transformation and HR services:
Fixed Price HR Packages for Healthcare Support
Our fixed price packages give practices and networks of every size certainty on cost and confidence on compliance. One agreed price, monthly or annual, based on your headcount, with advice available whenever you need it. No clock-watching, no surprise invoices.
Pay As You Go
Ad Hoc (£140 per hour
+ VAT)
- Recommended for employers with sporadic or occasional HR needs
- Use us as much or as little as you need.
- Newsletter employment law updates
Premium
12-Month Bundle
(Paid Monthly)
- Recommended for 1 – 30 employees
- Discounted hourly rate (Minimum 12 hours per year)
- Any additional hours required also charged at discounted rate
- Newsletter employment law updates
Professional
12-Month Bespoke Fixed Price Package (Paid Monthly)
- Recommended for 30 + employees
- Set Price
- Template letter pack
- Menopause advice pack
- Access to training webinars
- Sickness service (if required)
- Newsletter employment law updates
Employment Law Changes Affecting Healthcare Employers in 2026 and 2027
The Employment Rights Act 2025 is changing the risk picture for every healthcare employer, and the timeline is now well underway.
The time limit for most employment tribunal claims, currently three months, changes on 1 October 2026, doubling to six months. From 30 October 2026, employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment, with new protections against third-party harassment, which is particularly relevant for staff working directly with patients and the public. From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal falls from two years to six months, meaning probation periods and early performance management need to be handled correctly from the start.
For care providers, the Act also sets up a new negotiating body representing 1.5 million care workers in England, which will negotiate pay, terms and conditions, training and career progression. The first round of negotiations is due to begin in April 2027, with the first pay agreement expected by April 2028.
We’re helping practices, care providers and NHS organisations review their contracts, policies, harassment risk assessments and probation processes now, so they’re ready before each change takes effect.
All HR Healthcare and HR Medical Service Packages provide the following:
Telephone expert HR support normal office hours 8.30 – 6.00
24/7 emergency cover – support outside of the office hours for emergencies
HR Health Check – to include a review of policies, procedures, contracts, standard letters etc.
Bi-monthly HR medical services review to enable you to proactively plan and manage your team
Scheduled monthly call or email as a check-in on your people activity
Checking and drafting of letters and correspondence
Invitation to any topical webinars
Fact sheets and newsletters monthly
HR medical services updates before new legislation takes effect
See What Our Customers Have To Say
Why Choose Centric HR for Healthcare?
- Genuine NHS and healthcare experience. Specialists in NHS employee matters, general practice and regulated care, not generalists learning your sector on your time.
- Partnership with specialist NHS employment solicitors. Complex cases are backed by legal expertise specific to healthcare.
- CQC-aware advice. People practices and evidence that stand up to regulatory inspection.
- Current, compliant documentation. Contracts and policies kept ahead of fast-changing UK employment legislation.
- Solution-based and pragmatic. Case-by-case risk assessment and advice that adds value, not process for its own sake.
- A provider clients keep. Our repeat business across the NHS and primary care is the strongest testament we can offer.
Proven Results in the NHS
The best evidence of our healthcare expertise is what it has saved our clients.
The challenge
Ensuring additional resources are value for money
An NHS trust asked us to review the hourly rates of its nursing bank staff. Analysis showed local market rates were far above those of neighbouring trusts and were driving locally employed nurses to behave in ways that were detrimental to the core workforce, so trust nursing costs were spiralling out of control.
The result
Monthly recurrent savings of £50k
New rates were benchmarked and reset so the trust would still attract bank workers and remain competitive with other local trusts, without affecting the core workforce, and encouraging local staff to work additional hours rather than bank shifts. This built local loyalty and commitment and saved the trust £50k every month.
The challenge
Error in rota cost a fortune!
An NHS trust had implemented a long-shift rota for nurses incorrectly, paying for a break that should have been unpaid and failing to provide adequate rest for staff working 12-hour shifts. This was unsafe for patients, exhausting for staff and a highly inefficient use of the workforce.
The result
Safe practice and £720k saved every year
We found the error within two weeks of analysing the workforce data, presented the risks and the opportunity to the board, then wrote and implemented the change programme. It delivered recurrent savings of £720k per annum, cut bank and agency usage and returned hundreds of shifts a year to the trust.
The challenge
A national shortage of staff
An NHS trust was struggling with a national staffing shortage, an expensive over-reliance on bank and agency staff, identified skills gaps, underutilised team members and a poor career pathway that made it hard to attract and retain people. We were tasked with a workforce transformation strategy that offered no compromise on quality or safety, enriched skill mix to improve patient care, optimised resources, engaged nursing staff and managers throughout, ensured clinicians worked to the top of their licence and built robust plans for the future.
The result
£1.7 million saved in year one
Our workforce efficiencies plan optimised resources without compromising quality or safety, moved to a two-shift system, planned for skills shortfalls and retirement risk over five years, introduced support roles in high-demand areas, developed a five-year plan for new TNA and ACP roles and delivered a genuinely flexible working model. The trust saved £1.7 million in the first year, on track for £8.3 million over five years.
Case Study: Workforce Transformation
The NHS Trust were suffering with a national shortage of staff which meant there was a huge reliance on bank and agency staff at a huge cost. There were also a number of skills gaps identified, other members of staff were under utilised and there remained a poor career pathway for staff making it difficult to attract and retain staff.
We were set a task of completing a workforce transformation strategy and implementation plan to resolve the issue whilst:
• Offering no compromise on quality or safety.
• To enhance cover, skill-mix enrichments to improve the patient experience/care.
• Optimise resources and work towards greater efficiencies.
• Engage nursing staff and managers throughout the process.
• Ensure clinical effectiveness and ensure staff were working to top of licence.
• Build robust workforce plans for the future.
• Understand risk and ensure mitigated wherever possible.
Workforce efficiencies
We delivered a successful workforce efficiencies plan that incorporated:
• Optimised resources that did not compromise on quality or safety.
• Moved to a 2-shift system contributing significantly to CIP.
• Explored and planned for skill shortfalls within certain areas.
• Mitigated risk within retirement demographic over next 5 years.
• Ensured clinical workforce work to top of licence or band.
• Introduced support roles to assist high demand areas/improve patient experience.
• Proactively developed a 5-year plan for new roles such as TNAs and ACP roles.
• Provided a true flexible working model that met the needs of the organisation.
Our plan addressed all of the issues and provided the Trust with significant cost savings of £1.7 million in the first year, whilst the potential savings over 5 years is on track to deliver savings of £8.3 million.
Project-Based Healthcare HR Support
Alongside ongoing support, our healthcare HR consultants deliver defined projects with clear scopes and costs:
Recruitment and safer recruitment. Compliant, efficient hiring for clinical and non-clinical roles.
Investigations and disciplinaries. Independent, thorough casework handled with the sensitivity healthcare demands.
Sickness absence management.
Frameworks and case support that reduce absence and its cost to patient care.
Workforce efficiency and planning.
The analysis and delivery behind the savings above.
Transformational change.
Restructures, service redesign and TUPE, managed fairly and lawfully.
Management and staff training.
Building people-management confidence in clinical leaders and line managers.
Breathe HR Software for Healthcare Teams
We are an accredited Breathe HR partner. Breathe centralises employee records, automates holiday and absence, and keeps your documents organised and GDPR compliant, which is invaluable for lean practice teams.
For smaller organisations we recommend it as standard, because it makes you self-sufficient on the admin so your support time with us is spent on the issues that matter. Purchase a one-year retained package and we provide Breathe at no additional cost.
HR for Healthcare: Frequently Asked Questions
Everything from day-to-day advice, contracts and absence management through to investigations, workforce planning and large-scale transformation, all delivered by consultants with direct healthcare experience.
Yes. We help care providers build the recruitment, training records, supervision and people-management evidence that CQC inspection requires, and we support providers through the people elements of inspection preparation.
Yes. We support regulated care providers with safer recruitment, retention, absence and the distinct workforce pressures of social care.
Fixed price packages are based on your headcount, payable monthly or annually, so costs are predictable. Project work is scoped and priced up front. Contact us for a tailored quote.
Speak to a Specialist Healthcare HR Consultant
Start with a free, no-obligation conversation about your organisation and your people challenges. We will tell you honestly where we can help and what it will cost.
