London-based healthcare staffing firm, Patchwork Health has raised £20 million in a Series B funding round to develop its NHS staffing platform.

Founded in 2016 by two doctors, Anas Nader and Jing Ouyang, Patchwork has been designed to allow NHS teams to recruit, manage and dispatch both temporary and permanent healthcare workers.

The platform provides NHS organisations with a pool of temporary staff that can be custom selected to meet specific demands, supported by data analytics to help NHS managers monitor staffing trends and pay rates. Patchwork is behind the largest collaborative staffing bank in the UK, having brought 24 organisations in the North West together to help ease staffing pressures in the region.

For those looking for permanent work, the platform allows jobseekers to specify personal needs and preferences for staff rotas.

Staff shortages in the healthcare sector have made it ripe for startups to ‘platformize’ the problem. Aside from Patchwork Health, companies such as Vivian Health, Bemio, Lantum, and Clipboard Health have also attracted strong investor interest.

“NHS staffing isn’t working for NHS staff, but it can be fixed with the right tools,” claims Patchwork co-founder and CEO Dr Anas Nader. “Our solution gives the NHS the power to make this sustainable staffing a reality, whilst improving staffing levels and safeguarding the quality of patient care.”

The Series B round was led by Perwyn, with further backing from existing investor Praetura Ventures, KHP Ventures, and a host of angel investors, including Monzo founder Tom Blomfield.

According to Perwyn, Patchwork Health saves hospitals money and speeds up how quickly vacant shifts are filled. They claim that healthcare trusts using the Patchwork system can see increases of up to 48% in the number of temporary shifts for doctors getting filled.

“The traditional way of staffing our NHS is outdated and is contributing to the pressures our health service is facing,” said Martin le Huray, a partner at Perwyn.

Daniel Dickens, Co-Managing Partner at KHP Ventures, comments: “As an early-stage fund anchored by one the UK’s largest healthcare systems, it was a natural fit to support two brilliant clinical entrepreneurs in Anas and Jing, and their talented team, to scale a platform that addresses one of the biggest challenges facing the NHS. We were incredibly impressed with their roadmap and traction to date, and look forward to working with Patchwork’s team and our partners to help accelerate their growth and impact for NHS staff and patients.”

Perwyn was advised by Squire Patton Boggs (legal), Crosslake Technologies (tech), Deloitte (FDD and tax), PwC (CDD), and Pearson & Pearson (Advisory)

Patchwork previously raised £3m in a Praetura-led funding round in February 2020.