Largest NHS Managed Service in History Delivered for Department of Health

Medacs have been an important and valued partner in our operation. We were immediately impressed with the professionalism, knowledge and enthusiasm of the team. All our targets were met and the staff recruited were of extremely high calibre. Medacs added real value to ramp-down activities too, working closely with us to find alternative employment and placements for staff. Our experience working with them has been extremely positive.

General Manager - Lighthouse Laboratory 

The Challenge

In 2020, Medacs was contracted to support the planning, resourcing and management of a large scale national workforce for new laboratories, designed for high-throughput COVID-19 testing during the pandemic.

Working alongside the programme steering committee, Medacs teams played a central role in shaping the strategy and operational model. This included developing workforce structures, designing role specifications, building recruitment pathways and commercial staffing models, and setting intake strategies aligned to evolving demand forecasts and lab opening schedules.

A scalable 'dynamic resourcing' model was designed to support phased service expansion. Key challenges included recruiting and onboarding high volumes of staff at pace to meet sharply rising demand for test processing, and managing surges driven by new variants. A network of laboratories needed 24/7 cover, with staff able to relocate and work weekdays, nights, weekends and bank holidays.

The Approach

Medacs launched a large scale recruitment campaign and worked closely with local trusts, universities and the Department for Work and Pensions to source candidates across clinical, scientific, operational and corporate roles. National NHS-branded attraction campaigns supported rapid mobilisation. For lower skilled roles, the focus was on jobseekers and students from the local community, advertising through university portals and running webinars in association with local job centres. A specialist supply partner network was engaged to maximise resourcing capacity and reach, and a dedicated recruitment portal and Applicant Tracking System underpinned assessment, selection and deployment. Talent pools were nurtured to align resource with the phased intake strategy and to absorb unforeseen delays. An effective supply chain was built at pace, and internal promotion was actively encouraged, with entry-level Laboratory Technicians quickly upskilled into more senior roles.

Collaborative working was critical to success. The Medacs team met daily with operational leads to define roles, review service requirements and manage the workforce, coordinating payroll and leave and supporting HR issues including retention planning and off-boarding. A specific authorisation process was introduced for timesheets to ensure a smooth payroll run. The whole process was underpinned by detailed reporting, pipeline tracking and monthly management information for NHSI returns.

Results

A total of 5,420 laboratory roles were filled, spanning Band 2 through to senior scientists, with 100% of requested roles filled and 2,000 staff onboarded within the first three months. This enabled all labs to meet their required daily quotas of sample tests processed.

Medacs delivered a comprehensive managed service across the full workforce lifecycle. This covered defining roles and completing inductions, monitoring compliance and managing risk, overseeing deployment, utilisation and operational performance against HR metrics, and providing ongoing training, skill development and occupational health support. The service also included workforce reporting and assurance to support decision-making, alongside end-to-end administration through to transition, formal exit and offboarding.

Thank you for your hard work, dedication and support over the last 16 months. What you have achieved is nothing short of amazing. My experience of you all has cemented Medacs as the pinnacle of professionalism and a really great partner to work with.

Contract and Supply Lead - UK Health Security Agency