£7.5 million to digitally schedule shifts and save NHS staff time

The investment is part of a £26 million national fund to have all NHS doctors, nurses and other clinical staff on e-rostering systems by 2021, shown to be particularly invaluable during the pandemic

E-rostering can save time and effort when redeploying staff, digitally matching staff skillset with patient care requirements and geography, while managing working hours and pay to save clinicians time and effort every week

NHS hospitals, clinics and pharmacies across 38 more trusts will be able to save staff time and money by rolling out digital shift planning, known as e-rostering systems, thanks to £7.5 million government funding.

During the pandemic, e-rostering has proven instrumental when redeploying staff, reporting absences and managing working hours and pay information, notably for vaccination centres. NHS trusts have reported an increased appetite across clinicians to implement e-rostering as a result.

E-rostering allows clinicians to select shifts digitally, providing them with more flexibility and more efficient work schedules. Specific skillsets can more easily be matched to the right shifts when redeploying staff using digital staff passports. The passports are currently being piloted and can save staff and HR teams time by providing a verified record of identity, employment and training on their smartphone. These have been used during the COVID-19 response to redeploy staff quickly to support areas in need.

A 2018 study (see footnote) showed one of the functions of e-rostering – caseload scheduling – could save each NHS clinician 34 minutes a week, which can add up to hundreds of hours per trust. By planning routes between healthcare settings or to patients’ homes for home visits, clinical resource can be geographically matched so NHS staff can spend less time travelling and more time with patients.

Minister of State for Care Helen Whately said:

People are at the heart of the NHS. Our doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers are the greatest asset we have. I’m determined to help NHS trusts get the best out of our talented healthcare workers and give patients the care they deserve.

We’re delivering on another commitment in the NHS Long Term Plan to support the use of electronic rosters. E-rostering is a crucial tool to make the most of our dedicated healthcare professionals’ time for looking after patients – something which is needed more than ever during this pandemic.

Managing shifts more effectively also makes it easier to work flexibly, giving our hardworking clinicians a better work/life balance. I’m pleased even more trusts will now benefit thanks to this £7.5 million funding boost.

I’m excited to see how this technology can be implemented in the future, not just in hospitals and pharmacies, but in social care too – making sure everyone gets the right care at the right time.

The trusts benefiting from this latest funding include mental health and community, specialist and general acute trusts.

The technology can also cut costs for the NHS by reducing the reliance on staffing agencies.

Five NHS trusts will be using the software to also schedule patient appointments.

The £26 million national rollout to 68 trusts in total is part of the NHS Long Term Plan ambition to equip all shifts for doctors, nurses, Allied Health Professionals, health scientists and pharmacists with e-rostering systems by the end of 2021.

Four NHS trusts which received funding earlier in the rollout have created the North West London Collaborative Staff Bank, a shared pool of available clinicians who can fill shift vacancies to match surges in demand from the pandemic and wider winter pressures.

This is part of a wider strategy by NHS England and Improvement and NHSX to build a collaborative and flexible workforce through the use of technology. The Department of Health and Social Care will continue to work with NHS trusts to improve and upgrade their workforce deployment systems.

Anna Stabler, Executive Chief Nurse at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust said:

We’re delighted to have been awarded this funding to help us develop a community workforce deployment system for our nurses and Allied Health Care Professionals working in the community. The funding will be utilised to deliver electronic rostering and case management systems that will in turn benefit our staff and patients alike.

It will mean our staff can support patients in a more timely manner, whilst reducing their travel time and improve their working arrangements. We’re very much looking forward to getting this piece of work underway.

Funding allocation by NHS organisation

NHS organisation

Bid type

Professional group

Region

Sector

Total award (‘000)

Additional trusts involved

Cambridgeshire Community Services

e-Rostering and e-Scheduling Implementation

Nurses and AHPs

East of England

Community

£74

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Medic Rostering

Doctors

East of England

Acute

£290

James Paget University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Norfolk and Waveney Collaborative Bank

Multi-professional

East of England

Acute

£520

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust

James Paget University NHS Foundation Trust

Community e-Rostering Project – includes interface with patient information system

Multi-professional

East of England

Community

See above

Sutton Health and Care (SHC) and Surrey Downs Health and Care (SDHC)– hosted by Epsom and St Helier Trust

E-Allocate – SHC and SDHC (ESHT)

Multi-professional

London

Community

£36

SWL, Surrey Heartlands (for Surrey Downs Health and Care)

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Medical e-Rostering Project

Doctors

London

Acute

£336

University College London Hospital

e-Rostering System

Doctors

London

Acute

£203

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Medical Rostering Improvement

Doctors

London

Mental health

£62

West London NHS Trust

East London NHS Foundation Trust

Medics Rostering

Doctors

London

Mental health

£190

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

AHP job planning and rostering

AHPs

London

Acute

£218

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust

e-roster for AHPs and medics

AHPs and doctors

Midlands

Acute

£154

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust

Competency-based rostering

Doctors

Midlands

Acute

£127

George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust

e-Rostering

Doctors

Midlands

Acute

£386

Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust

Rostering and job-planning for community staff

Multi-professional

Midlands

Community

£111

Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Community Workforce Deployment System Project

Multi-professional

Midlands

Specialist

£237

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

AHP and Pharmacy

AHPs and pharmacists

Midlands

Acute

£491

Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust

e-Rostering System Project - North Cumbria Inpatient Wards and Trust Wide Community Services

Multi-professional

North East and Yorkshire

Mental health

£417

Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust

Medical Workforce e-Rostering Project

Doctors

North East and Yorkshire

Acute

£140

York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Medical e-Rostering Project

Doctors

North East and Yorkshire

Acute

£258

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust

Integrated Scheduling System

Multi-professional

North East and Yorkshire

Acute

£200

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust

Improving Workforce Deployment Project (IWDP)

Nurses

North West

Specialist

£280

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Looking Beyond the Roster Care Needs First - Mersey Care and North West Boroughs

Nurses and AHPs

North West

Community

£300

North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

Community Workforce Deployment System

Nurses and AHPs

North West

Acute

£618

Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Medical e-Rostering

Doctors

North West

Acute

£133

Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust

e-Rostering and e-Job Planning for Medical Workforce

Doctors

North West

Specialist

£97

Lancashire teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Collaborative AHP Staff Bank

AHPs

North West

Acute

£505

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundations Trust, East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, Morcombe Bay Foundation Trust

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

e-Rostering Project for Clinical Professionals

AHPs, pharmacists and HCS (non-medical)

North West

Acute

£367

Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust

e-rostering

Multi-professional

North West

Mental health

£116

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

Clinical e-Rostering

Doctors

South East

Acute

£118

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

Medical e-Rostering Solution

Doctors

South East

Acute

£285

Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Workforce Deployment System Project

Doctors

South East

Acute

£220

Total

£7,489

Footnote: A May 2018 Newton Europe Consultancy review of community services found that route planning and geographic matching of clinical resource and demand could save travel time by 20% and 30% respectively. The use of scheduling solutions could, assuming a conservative estimate of 10% lower travel time, save 34 minutes per clinician per week, allowing them to see more patients.