An interim COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport is now in beta testing to enable safe staff movements between NHS organisations

Support the temporary movement of staff for COVID-19 response and the recovery of services.

NHS staff undergo rigorous pre-employment checks before they begin work to ensure they are able to provide safe care for patients.

To support the COVID-19 response and the recovery of service, staff movement between NHS organisations need to be swift and efficient, with evidence available that checks have been completed before staff move.

The COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport provides a solid legal framework for staff to be temporarily deployed into other NHS organisations and streamlines and speeds up the sharing of information, allowing staff to move promptly and with ease. The information is transferred securely by the staff member through their own smartphone, putting them in control.

Learn more about passporting in the NHS.

What are the benefits of the COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport to staff?

Through the COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport, you will hold your own verified record (issued to you by your current employer) consisting of your digital identity, key information about your current job and the employment checks that have been completed in a what is called a ‘credential’ on your smartphone via a secure app. This provides the staff member with a range of benefits:

Reduced paperwork when temporarily moving
Eliminates the need to seek employment check information from current employer
Eliminate the need for repeating employment checks
Provides them the ability to present themselves digitally with all the required information in advance or at time of movement with another or multiple NHS organisation as may times as required, using the same passport.

Please also see the For Staff page for further information.

What are the benefits of the COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport to NHS organisations?

When moving staff temporarily, the COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport enables you to:

Reduce administrative activity e.g. eliminates the need for honorary contracts, secondment agreements or letters of access/authority
Eliminates the need to request or respond to employment check data requests when releasing or receiving staff temporarily
Eliminates the need to repeat employment checks
Speeds up onboarding process for HR teams and staff
Deliver rapid, safe and secure staff movement to respond to clinical need
Release and receive skilled staff quickly, thereby reduce agency spend and improving patient care
Where organisations are part of a Clinical Networks, the passport enables the movement of network staff to work across a number of organisations to deliver either planned or emergency clinical care.

NHS organisations will be able to:

Transfer key employment information simply and securely.
Use a single solution across all substantive and bank staff.
Benefit from a tri-party licence between employer, worker and host which is embedded into the process of using the passport.

Please also see the For Employers page for further information.

Where can the COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport help?

Here are a few example of where the COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport might help:

I am a Critical Care Nurse employed by an NHS employer and need to work at another urgently, to help with the COVID-19 response

I have agreed to be deployed into another NHS organisation in my region to support COVID-19 response. I need to be able to demonstrate my employment status and employment checks safely and quickly to the other NHS organisation.

I am a Surgeon working in a number of hospital sites as part of a clinical network

I am employed by 1 NHS employer, but I undertaken work at another 5 NHS employers to deliver clinical care to patients as part of planned work but also in an emergency. I will need to demonstrate to the other 5 NHS organisations that my NHS employment checks are in place so I can work.

I am a Specialist Nurse Practitioner and deliver clinics in a different NHS organisations

My role is to work is to deliver clinical care across a number of NHS organisations. I need to assure the staff at the NHS organisations there that I am cleared for work there.

Case studies

See real life case studies of how the COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport has been used during the pandemic

What information is held in the COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport credential?

A single core ‘credential’ has been defined to hold all the basic personal details about the staff member to be issued a passport credential including:

Name, date of birth, National Insurance number;
Photograph;
Basic details relating to employment checks – including DBS and right to work information;
Professional registration details (GMC/NMC/GDC/HPC) as applicable;
Basic details relating to current employment – including employing organisation, job role, staff group, department, start date (and fixed term end date, if appropriate), pay band, work email address, smartcard number; and,
Occupational Health clearance confirmation and any restrictions or reasonable adjustments required for the staff member.

Training and skills information is not yet included on the COVID19 Digital Staff Passport. Learn more about how an employee might provide information on training and skills.

Find out how a COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport can help you and your organisation

For Employers Learn about how you can use COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport to support staff when moving between NHS organisation, and how you can generate efficiency in your administrative processes at the same time.

For Staff Learn about how your COVID-19 Digital Staff Passport gives you control of your information and can help you work at different NHS organisations when you agree to do so