Supporting NHS England's Fragile Professions Workforce:
The CDC Sonography Programme
Background and requirements
The NHS Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) programme was established to expand diagnostic capacity across England, bringing care closer to home and reducing pressure on acute hospital settings. A critical component of this ambition is securing a resilient, high-quality workforce across a range of Allied Health Professions, many of which are classified as fragile professions due to chronic national shortages.
Sonography is among the most acutely affected of these fragile professions. The NHS faced a position where an existing non-specialist recruitment partner had been unable to meet the programme's workforce requirements, leaving CDCs understaffed and diagnostic capacity unrealised.
NHS England required a specialist partner with the reach, clinical credibility, and delivery infrastructure to fill these gaps rapidly, and to do so to the highest standard.
Our Approach
Globe Workforce Solutions (GWS) was engaged to support the NHS England CDC programme with a focus on permanent Sonography placements, including candidates with obstetric, gynaecological, general and MSK scanning experience.
GWS brought to bear its unrivalled national and international candidate database, recognised as the number one Allied Health Professional (AHP) database in the UK, alongside a clinically led recruitment model built on integrity, thoroughness, and candidate care.
Results & Impact
Despite compressed timeframes, including the festive and New Year period, and the inherent challenges of coordinating with NHS Trusts to arrange interviews, GWS delivered measurable, high-quality outcomes within two months of engagement:
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8 clinically approved CVs submitted and approved by the NHSE team
6 candidates progressed to interview and offer stage
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First offer made
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First international candidate deployed and in post in the UK at the end of Month 2
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Positive feedback from CDC National Lead and NHS England senior stakeholders
The Head of Community Diagnostic Centres at NHS England (National) acknowledged the quality and standard of GWS candidate submissions, noting that had GWS been engaged at the outset of the programme rather than the initial non-specialist agency, the original workforce requirement would likely have been fully met.
What Made the Difference?
Clinically led process: Every submission is underpinned by comprehensive pre-screening, clinical competency checks using GWS-designed assessment forms, and active expectation management.
Dedicated account management: A dedicated Account Manager oversaw the full candidate journey from initial approach through to deployment, maintaining close liaison with NHS England stakeholders throughout.
Unrivalled international pipeline: Years of established relationships across Australia, New Zealand, Canada and beyond mean our team can access and mobilise international talent that others simply cannot reach.
Domestic depth: Alongside the international pipeline, GWS holds a robust database of UK-trained AHPs across the NHS and private sector, enabling a comprehensive domestic and international offer.
HEALTHCHECK: Our proprietary real-time candidate rating system provides performance transparency, workforce optimisation, and clinical risk reduction, giving NHS clients confidence in every placement.
Candidate Experience
“Well, it’s been a really good experience with Globe Workforce Solutions. I appreciate how you guys always check up on the candidate. The feedback is always timeously done. Makes us feel so reassured! Thank you again for everything, especially the experience! Very well organised. ”
— Nikita, Sonographer— Nikita, Sonographer"I was fortunate enough to deal with Mason and Ola who were great every step of the way. They both worked hard in finding the right position for me and Ola would even take time to call me even if it was out of hours for himself and talk me through each new step and trust requirement as I got close to moving overseas. Once I had made the move, they continued to check in and make sure everything was still going according to the plan that had been set out and even came to visit me and introduce themselves once I had made it to the UK! It would not have been possible to navigate the task of relocating overseas without the help of Ola and Mason each step of the way."
— Jeremy, Sonographer“I had a very positive experience with Ola at Globe. From the beginning, he was incredibly helpful, acting as a reliable point of communication between myself and the Trust. He kept me informed at every stage, answered my questions promptly, advocated for me, and made the whole process feel much more manageable. James was also an important part of this journey as he would check in with me to ensure everything was in order with this new posting. James was also my point of contact for my previous role as a Locum Sonographer in 2022-2024. I’m grateful for their support in helping me secure my new permanent role with NLaG Trust and would highly recommend Globe Locums to others.”
— Sam, SonographerGet in Touch
For further details or a provisional conversation please contact the team