About Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services across Frimley Park Hospital, Wexham Park Hospital, Heatherwood Hospital and a range of community sites, supporting thousands of colleagues across a wide range of clinical, operational and support roles.
As a large NHS employer with complex working patterns, temporary staffing needs and a highly pressured workforce, Frimley has continually looked for ways to improve employee experience while keeping internal processes simple.
The challenge
In 2019, Frimley was seeing growing demand from colleagues, particularly bank and nursing staff, for greater flexibility around pay.
Many bank workers were waiting weeks to be paid for shifts, while agency workers could often access pay much sooner. This created pressure around bank shift fill rates, agency spend and payroll flexibility.
The Trust explored several options, including whether to introduce weekly payroll. However, running payroll more frequently would have created significant extra workload for internal teams.
"Weekly payroll would have multiplied the workload by five. We needed another option that gave colleagues more flexibility without creating a huge admin burden for payroll."
Why Frimley chose Stream
Stream stood out because it could provide flexible pay without adding unnecessary complexity for payroll teams.
Other providers required more manual reconciliation, invoicing and back-and-forth administration. Stream’s payroll integration meant the process could flow through payroll with far less friction.
"What stood out was the way it worked from a payroll integration perspective. The other providers required much more work on our side. With Stream, it flowed through payroll without payroll really having to do anything. That was a huge bonus."
Frimley became the first NHS Trust to launch Stream in October 2019. The platform was implemented in around one month, a pace Michael described as “unNHS” because of how quickly the Trust was able to move.
"We brought it in within a month, which is almost unheard of within the NHS. We agreed it at the beginning of September and went live on the 1st of October."
The impact:
Building one of the NHS’s largest workplace savings programmes
Since launching Stream, Frimley colleagues have saved more than ÂŁ2.5 million through the platform.
Savings has become one of the clearest signs of impact, with 2,752 open savings pots holding more than ÂŁ950,000. With an average balance of ÂŁ347 per pot, colleagues are building financial buffers to help manage unexpected costs.
For Frimley, this is not just a usage metric. It shows colleagues building financial buffers, often for the first time.
"We’re seeing comments from people saying it’s the first time they’ve been able to save and that they’re building up that buffer. That’s a real positive improvement."
Frimley's commitment to building financial resilience also extends beyond its own workforce. As part of the National Coalition of Workplace Savings, the Trust is helping champion workplace saving and encourage more employers to support employees in building financial security.
Key stats:
Reducing pressure on payroll and improving processes
Before Stream, one option on the table was weekly payroll. Instead, Frimley was able to give colleagues greater flexibility while avoiding a significant increase in payroll workload.
Stream also helped create better discipline around shift approvals, particularly for bank shifts. Because colleagues could only access pay once shifts were approved, managers had a clearer incentive to complete approvals sooner.
"If managers don’t approve it, colleagues can’t get their money. It helped tighten that process and improve the accuracy of shift data."
Financial wellbeing as a safety-critical issue
In a healthcare environment, financial stress does not stay outside the workplace. For Frimley, supporting financial wellbeing is part of supporting colleagues as whole people, especially in roles where focus, resilience and emotional capacity matter.
"If someone is massively distracted because their washing machine has broken and they’re wondering where they’re going to find £500, and they’re working in a critical care unit, there’s a conflict there that’s worrying. Anything we can do to help that has got to be a good thing."
Responsible support for a complex NHS workforce
Frimley has also seen value in workplace loans, particularly for international colleagues who may struggle to access high-street credit when they first arrive in the UK.
For these employees, responsible lending through an employer-backed platform can help provide access to financial support in a safer, more trusted environment.
"For some of our international staff, the loans product has been a really positive way to help them build credit. They probably wouldn’t have been able to access that through high-street lending."
Final Words
"If we were to take it away, I imagine we’d get quite a lot of pushback. It’s almost becoming a standard expectation in the NHS now.”
“As we’ve said to other Trusts, I would definitely recommend going ahead. It’s easy to bring in, simple from a technical process, and the support with comms has been really strong. The alternative is doing a load of other things that take more time, more effort and more money.”
Michael Ellis | Associate Director of People | Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
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