Case study: University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust

‘Managing a large number of full- and part-time staff on a variety of shift patterns is very time-consuming, but a workforce management system enables managers to monitor working patterns at a glance and plan rotas,’ says Tony Cressey, hotel services manager at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust.

The hospital is based in Stoke-on-Trent, but is split across three sites and serves a population of about half a million.

When Cressey first joined in 2002 as logistics manager, an administration group of three people were writing out clock cards for 500 porters, drivers, catering and cleaning staff by hand, and manually collating time and attendance information. The data is used for paying wages and to compile management reports on activities such as absenteeism.

Although Excel spreadsheets and an Access database speeded up the process, the decision was taken to automate the capture of clock card information to boost efficiency. As a result, the hospital decided to place a tender for dedicated workforce management applications and by the end of 2005, opted for Captor’s Efficient Time system.

The application was initially implemented for small groups of about 10 to 15 people from May last year. Electronic fobs were used to log onto the system at the same time as using clock cards, helping to ensure there were no anomalies.

All 500 facilities staff now use the time system, and it will be rolled out to 900 more in the estates departments, which handle activities such as laundry, in the next financial year.

‘Setting it up is very time-consuming. It takes 15 minutes to add someone and build their rota, and there are issues and exceptions that you are just not aware of until you use the system,’ says Cressey.

But the benefits in terms of quicker access to information and cost red uction have outweighed the challenges.

‘Initially, we had three staff focusing on this process, but that has gone down to two and they will be dealing with more people,’ says Cressey.

It is also now possible to instantly access information on situations such as individual sickness rates or total absentee levels, whereas previously the process would have taken a week.

The next step will be to integrate the applications with the Trust’s new electronic employee records system, which is expected to go live in July.

‘Being able to automate tasks makes them a lot more efficient. There is a lot of routine in what we do and if you can automate that and cater to ad hoc processes at the same time, it makes a big difference,’ says Cressey.