Locum’s Next, a HealthTech connecting NHS organisations with 25,000 clinicians for temporary work, is opening up its platform for free to help coordinate the response to COVID-19.

The company’s shift-matching software will be made available to support efforts to recruit NHS clinicians to help fill short term vacancies - currently being listed by the thousands each day - as staffing issues grow across the NHS.

The platform automates registration processes for clinicians who would otherwise have to spend time manually submitting forms and qualifications which can be time-consuming.

Deputy chief executive of NHS providers Saffron Cordery said: "There is unprecedented pressure on the NHS and wherever possible we need to make sure there are the right staff and resources in place to do that.

“Teams are working flat out to provide high quality care, but the challenges are huge," she continued. "It is fantastic that Locum’s Nest is providing its product free of charge to trusts so that temporary staff can fill shifts where they are most urgently needed and those who have left the NHS can be helped to come back to work.”

Nick Andreou, co-founder of Locum’s Nest and former NHS junior doctor, said; “Now is the time to wholeheartedly intensify our efforts in order to support the national fight against the infection.

"We have to remember that NHS staff are also human beings with relatives who also need as much support as possible - our aim is to help healthcare organisations minimise the impact of COVID-19 by allowing them to rapidly and remotely deploy the software within just ten days, giving them full access to staff, free of charge.”

Meanwhile, Greensill is offering a new instant pay service to NHS workers for free.

The HealthTech startup is working with seven of the largest NHS Trusts - including South Warwickshire, Salford and Northumbria - to deliver the Earnd app, which allows anyone who signs up to it to get paid instantly for the work they have done, as soon as they have done it, at no charge.

First users will be able to access it from this week in London, with then roll-out across the nation.

Lex Greensill, chief executive of Greensill, said: “Allowing nurses and vital NHS workers to access their pay when they have earned it at no cost to them will hopefully ease one source of stress and allow them to focus on the vital work they are doing."

Elsewhere, Alibaba is offering its cloud-based artificial intelligence technology to medical personnel around the world to help fight the pandemic.

Anti-coronavirus solutions have been put together from Alibaba Cloud’s experts, Alibaba DAMO Academy’s scientists and researchers and technical employees from DingTalk. This includes the International Medical Expert Communication Platform, hosted on Alibaba’s Cloud, which will provide free communication for medical workers to directly talk to Chinese doctors who have been on the frontline of the COVID-19 battle.

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