Data Tells a Story – Recording and Reporting Apprenticeship Details in ESR
Within the NHS, apprenticeships are offered in many different areas of work. They are designed around the needs of the employer and can help transform businesses by up-skilling the current workforce with the skills needed to sustain the NHS workforce of the future.
In April 2017, the apprenticeship levy of 0.5% of the total annual pay bill was introduced. It is therefore essential that organisations can easily identify the number of apprenticeship training opportunities accessed against this levy. In NHS Wales, the levy for 2017/18 was c£18 million.
Background
The June 2018 edition of ESR News highlighted the development of the new Apprenticeship Details Extra Information Tab, (Recording Apprenticeships in ESR).
Hywel Dda University Health Board has piloted the new Apprenticeship Details functionality. The Health Board provides multidisciplinary healthcare services in west Wales, employing 9,900 staff. Apprenticeships are a key enabler in the organisation’s engagement, staff retention and workforce strategy. In 2017/18, the Health Board’s Apprenticeship Levy contribution was £1.9m.
Before the ESR functionality was made available, the Health Board used a spreadsheet to record Apprenticeship data. Figure 1 outlines the old process, which was difficult to maintain and analyse and was labour intensive and inconsistent, involving multiple users to collect key information.
Figure 1 – Old Process to manage Apprenticeships
The new process for recording apprenticeship data in ESR
In July 2018, Amanda Glanville, the Apprentice Lead for Hywel Dda UHB, populated Apprenticeship Details for over 250 employees using data previously held on the Apprenticeship spreadsheet. Recording apprenticeship data in ESR has transformed the old process, reducing it to five steps that are actioned online, streamlined and low maintenance, outlined in figure 2.
Figure 2 – New process to manage Apprenticeships
Reporting apprenticeship data using ESR Business Intelligence
NHS Wales, working alongside the NHS ESR Central Team, developed BI Dashboard tabs in both the Education and Learning and Staff in Post Dashboards. These enable NHS organisations to report key data including: Apprenticeship Level, Framework, Status, Main Training Provider and Apprenticeship Type by standard data including AfC Band, Age, Department, Staff Group, Job Role, and Occupation Code etc. Further developments for summary data and access via Manager Self Service to the Staff in Post Apprenticeship data for their team are currently being progressed.
Apprenticeship data is also available in the ESR Data Warehouse, which enables NHS Wales to report key data that enables a much wider a picture of Apprenticeships across NHS Wales.
Shining a Light on Apprenticeships in Hywel Dda UHB
Accessing robust, high quality data easily from ESR BI has enabled Hywel Dda UHB to have greater insight into employees undertaking Apprenticeships:
- The majority of staff undertaking Apprenticeships are existing staff
- Half of staff undertaking Apprenticeships are age 41 or more
- Two thirds of Apprenticeships are undertaken by Bands 1-4
- ESR BI has enabled the Health Board to accurately identify the saving for NI contributions for staff aged under 25 undertaking Apprenticeships
'Since Apprenticeships have been recorded on ESR, the Health Board has gained greater insight into the types and levels of Apprenticeships accessed, by whom. This enables us to easily identify employees who successfully complete Apprenticeships and start to quantify the value for money against the annual Apprenticeship levy and the Retention Strategy. ESR is now the only place to record and report Apprenticeship data for the Health Board.'
Angie Oliver, Assistant Director of Organisational Development, Hywel Dda UHB
Key Benefits
- Business Intelligence
- ESR enables a ‘single source of truth’ for employees undertaking Apprenticeships
- Apprenticeship data can be easily monitored in the Education and Learning dashboard
- Managers can see Apprenticeship data for their staff using Staff in Post dashboard
- ESR Data Warehouse enables an overview of Apprenticeships undertaken across NHS Wales
- Underpins Workforce Planning
- Enables vocational innovation and best practice development
- Supports engagement and retention strategies
- Increased capacity and capability for a sustainable and future proofed workforce
- Financially Prudent
- Enables Payroll to ensure the correct NI contribution for staff undertaking Apprenticeships
- Enables organisations to maximise the value claimed of the apprenticeship levy in line with the Framework agreement on the reform of Agenda for Change
Next Steps for NHS Wales
- Health Boards and Trusts in NHS Wales are collecting and validating Apprenticeship data to record on ESR by 31 January 2019.
- In partnership with NHS ESR Central team, to further enhance ESR BI reports.
- ESR positions to better reflect the job undertaken and close Apprentice Job Roles.
- Payroll to streamline the process to ensure the correct payment of NI contributions.
For further information, please contact Amanda Glanville @ Amanda.Glanville@wales.nhs.uk
Debra Lewis,Digital Workforce Solutions Programme Manager, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership @ debra.lewis@wales.nhs.uk