Webinar Recap – How Back-Up Care Supports NHS Workforce Priorities
In a recent joint webinar hosted by Bright Horizons and HPMA, NHS HR professionals from across the country gathered to address some of the most pressing challenges facing the workforce today.
Top of the agenda: how to reduce sickness absence and reliance on costly bank and agency staff. As demand for health services grows and staffing budgets tighten, these twin issues have become central to workforce strategy.
The session explored how employer-sponsored back-up care – providing emergency childcare and eldercare – and workplace nursery partnerships can be part of the solution, helping trusts support their staff while delivering operational and financial impact.
Watch the webinar in full here
Key Takeaways:
- Sickness Absence: A Systemic Strain
"If we can reduce sickness, we should, by default, then be reducing bank and agency."
HR leaders made it clear that sickness absence is not just a staffing issue but a system-wide challenge that affects team dynamics, patient care, and budgets. Frequent short-term absences, often linked to stress or caring responsibilities, put additional strain on remaining staff and trigger a costly cycle of temporary cover, overtime, or delayed care delivery.
- Back-Up Care as a Practical Intervention
Bright Horizons shared how access to Back-Up Care services can mitigate this challenge. By enabling staff to fulfil their work commitments when usual care arrangements fall through, this benefit reduces the likelihood of last-minute absence.
Whether it’s a nursery closure, a childminder calling in sick, or an elderly parent needing immediate support, having a trusted solution in place gives employees peace of mind and greater attendance reliability.
- Financial Realism Meets Innovation
“I appreciate that the trust would invest, but getting new contracts approved in the current climate will be challenging,"
The financial realities facing the NHS were not overlooked. Participants asked direct questions about cost, funding models, and ROI. There was broad agreement that any new initiative must be demonstrably cost-effective.
The concept of Back-Up Care as a ‘spend-to-save’ approach resonated strongly, with speakers pointing to data showing reduced bank and agency spend where care benefits were in place.
- Case Study: Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust
A highlight of the session was the ChelWest Trust case study, which demonstrated how implementing Back-Up Care helped reduce unplanned absences, boost staff wellbeing, and strengthen retention. Crucially, the Trust was able to draw a line between support for working carers and improved service delivery – a connection that is increasingly important in workforce planning.
To support this, Bright Horizons provides a range of resources NHS organisations can use right now:
- Our Workplace Nursery and Back-Up Care Solution Guides walk through the core cost-benefit arguments, complete with examples from NHS and other large-scale employers.
- The ChelWest NHS Trust case study offers clear evidence of how back-up care has led to reductions in unplanned absence and agency reliance.
- Our team can work with you directly to provide usage data, projected savings estimates, and help you shape a tailored business case aligned with your Trust’s priorities.
Whether you're building internal buy-in or just starting to explore viability, these tools are designed to help you present a credible, strategic proposal that aligns workforce wellbeing with financial impact.
Resources Shared:
Conclusion:
The session highlighted a growing recognition that employee-centred interventions can deliver organisational gains.
Back-up care, while often seen as a soft benefit, has clear potential as a hard metric solution for absence management and staffing stability. As NHS leaders continue to balance staff wellbeing with operational performance, supporting working carers may be one of the most strategic steps forward.
What Next?
- Watch the webinar in full here
- Download Resources: Use the links above to explore tools, guides, and case studies.
- Build the Business Case: Reach out for support in creating a tailored business case for your Trust.
- Book a Discovery Call: Speak with a Bright Horizons consultant about piloting back-up care within your organisation.
- Learn More About Workplace Nurseries: For additional insights and cost-saving potential, explore our Workplace Nursery Solutions Guide.
