One nursing agency for every need
Most care providers come to a nursing agency for one of two things. They need a nurse on shift in the next few hours. Or they need to hire one permanently and want the process done properly. Both are valid. Both require different approaches. And most nursing agencies are set up to do one well and the other reluctantly.
Cucumber is a nursing agency built for both. We run dedicated services for temporary and emergency nurse staffing, and a separate permanent recruitment service for organisations that need to grow their nursing team rather than just cover it. Below you’ll find the right route for what you need.
Find the right nursing agency service
We run three distinct nurse services. Pick the one that matches what you’re looking for.
Nurse Staffing
NMC-registered nurses for bank shifts, short contracts, and ongoing temporary cover. All compliance handled. Available nationwide.
Urgent Nurse Staffing
Pre-screened nurses available at short notice, including same-day. Out-of-hours team. No compromises on compliance under time pressure.
Permanent Nurse Recruitment
Direct hire placements for NHS trusts, care homes, and private hospitals. Screening, interviews, and compliance handled end to end.
The settings this nursing agency covers
We place nurses across NHS trusts, residential and nursing care homes, private hospitals, mental health services, and community care teams. Our nursing agency has been operating long enough to know that each of these settings has genuinely different requirements, and we recruit and screen accordingly.
We cover England and Scotland. Our Glasgow office handles Scotland placements specifically, and operates on the same compliance standards as our Manchester head office.
What sets this nursing agency apart
There are a lot of nursing agencies operating in the UK. Many of them make similar claims. Rather than add to that noise, here’s what we actually do differently, and how you can verify it.
NMC verification at every placement, not just at sign-up.
We check NMC registration against the live register before every placement, not once when a nurse joins our books. Registrations lapse. Conditions get attached. Checking once is not enough.
JSL compliance you can document.
Under Joint and Several Liability legislation, your nursing agency’s tax compliance is now partially your risk. We operate on direct PAYE structures and can produce compliance documentation on request, same day.
Setting-matched placements.
We don’t send a nurse from an acute ward to a dementia residential unit and assume they’ll manage. Every placement is matched on setting experience, not just registration type.
CQC-ready documentation.
We provide the paperwork CQC inspectors ask to see when your service uses agency nurses. NMC confirmation, DBS status, induction records. All produced at the point of placement, not chased down after the fact.
More from the Cucumber nursing agency team
If you’re making a decision about which nursing agency to use, or how to manage agency nurse compliance in your service, these articles go deeper on the topics that matter.
Blog post
Nursing agency CQC documentation your care home needs to have ready
What CQC expects when your care home uses agency nurses, and how to make sure your records are ready.
Blog post
Same-day nursing agency cover and what actually makes it reliable
What actually makes same-day cover reliable, and the questions to ask before you need it.
Blog post
Nursing agency JSL compliance and what it means for care homes in 2026
Joint and Several Liability in plain English, and what to ask your agency to prove they’re compliant.
Frequently asked questions
We place Registered General Nurses (RGN), Registered Mental Health Nurses (RMN), Registered Nurses for Learning Disabilities (RNLD), and Healthcare Assistants across temporary and permanent roles. All registered nurses on our books hold a current, verified NMC pin.
The main differences are compliance depth and setting specificity. We recheck NMC registration at every placement rather than relying on onboarding data. We match nurses to settings based on actual experience, not just registration type. And we can evidence JSL compliance on request, which most agencies cannot do quickly. None of these are complicated claims. Ask us to prove any of them and we will.
Yes. Our temporary nursing agency service and permanent nurse recruitment service run separately, with different teams handling each. Temporary and bank placements are handled through our staffing division. Permanent direct hire placements are managed through our healthcare recruitment team. You can access both through Cucumber without going to multiple agencies.
Yes. We operate on direct PAYE employment structures for our nursing staff. We do not route placements through non-compliant umbrella companies. If you need documentation to satisfy your own JSL due diligence as an end client, we can provide it the same day you ask.
We cover England and Scotland. Our head office is in Manchester (0161 509 6097) and our Scotland office operates from Glasgow (0141 673 5018). Both offices provide full nursing agency services including temporary cover, emergency placements, and permanent recruitment.
Let Cucumber Fix Your Staffing Needs
Request a consultation, and let’s make your staffing solutions stronger