A new NHS recruitment website launched last week could save the health service in England around £24m ($42m; €34m) in advertising costs every year, according to health minister John Hutton.
The site, which allows candidates to view and apply for jobs online, is being piloted among 46 NHS organisations, including the National Blood Service and acute and primary care trusts.
It is being run in a five year partnership deal with the online recruitment company Jobsite, which won the contract through an open procurement process.
The financial details have not been released, but Mr Hutton says that the NHS stands to make substantial savings when the scheme is extended to all NHS organisations in England next year.
Mr Hutton said it was vital to the NHS recruitment and retention strategy to make it easier for people to find out about the "rewarding careers" that are available.
"Department of Health figures suggest that as many as a quarter of a million people find new jobs in the NHS each year. The new service will allow NHS organisations to advertise jobs to millions of people at the touch of a button," he said.
Similar schemes have been running in Wales (www.wales.nhs.uk) and Scotland (www.scot.nhs.uk) for over a year, with moderate success. The NHS Wales website currently offers about 300 different vacancies. The new English site (www.nhs.uk/jobs) listed 74 vacancies as the BMJ went to press.
But the Association of Online Publishers, which represents commercial online advertisers, is sceptical.
"Over the years, online publishers have developed a considerable amount of expertise, and public sector recruitment sites are costly to run," a spokeswoman said. The association wants to ensure that users don't lose the independent perspective that publishers' sites offer them. Last month Labour MP Austin Mitchell put down a parliamentary question, seeking clarification from the Department of Health on the right that existing publishers will have to republish listings of jobs advertised via the new NHS site, as well as requesting "greater transparency" of running costs. Mr Mitchell has yet to receive an answer.
BMJ Careers , a rival to the NHS site, could loose advertising revenue if the pilot scheme is successful. Its advertising manager, Jackie Connor, said that 98% of doctors looking for jobs in the NHS do so through BMJ Careers , "probably because we provide a comprehensive listing of posts across all medical sectors and back them with a wide range of careers services," she said.
UK doctors also seem to like having the listing in paper format delivered to their home, she added.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "We have listened to what trusts say their requirements are and that is precisely why we are not forcing people to use it. Certainly some areas and specialties . . . will still want to use paper advertising."