Your ESR News

ESR Transformation Programme update

The NHSBSA recently established a Transformation Programme for the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) as outlined in the March edition of ESR News. The Transformation Programme is now in progress and the Transformation Roadmap outlining the key stages of delivery is summarised below:

As the first stage of the ESR Transformation Programme, the NHSBSA initiated a Discovery project in February 2021. The Discovery activities included the largest user/stakeholder engagement and listening exercise since ESR was implemented.

Users and stakeholders from across the NHS in England and Wales have been engaged to tell us about their experiences of ESR and understand needs for a future NHS workforce solution. As part of this process over 13,000 NHS staff and over 3,400 NHS managers shared their views via an online survey, with users and regional/national stakeholders also taking part in interviews and focus groups throughout March 2021.

The findings from this research have enabled us to understand what our users and strategic stakeholders think about the functionality within ESR, their user experience, how ESR supports strategic workforce planning and what they would expect from a future NHS workforce solution.

The findings from the research have been categorised into the following key themes;

Interoperabilty;

Experience of ESR varies on how it has been implemented in each organisation (e.g. the areas of functionality that are utilised). There is a clear desire from users and stakeholders to extend and refine interoperability with other systems.

Data and Insights;

Strategic users advised that ESR provides them with the workforce data they need to support strategic decision making. At the same time, there are aspects that could be extended, particularly in relation to workforce planning.

Ease of use and navigation;

User research identified “look and feel” and ease of navigation as key aspects influencing the usability of ESR. Users and strategic stakeholders were not always aware of ESR’s full capabilities and recognised the potential to do more.

Effectiveness in supporting workforce planning;

ESR is viewed as a rich source of information and stakeholders expressed a desire for more meaningful experiences enabled by the data.

The research that has identified these key themes will be distilled further, and will also incorporate the findings from the Future HR and OD Programme led by NHS England and NHS Improvement - together these will help shape the vision for the future NHS workforce solution.  

At the centre of the vision sits the future experience, delivering a cohesive and connected suite of workforce management capabilities that can best support the needs of NHS employees, people managers and professional users, as presented in below: 

At this stage in the Discovery project the vision will continue to be refined with a view to defining candidate solution options in subsequent stages of delivery by July 2021.  This will then be followed by an assessment of candidate solution options that is expect to complete by summer 2022, as presented within the roadmap.

In addition to the user research informing the vision for the future NHS workforce solution, the findings are also being considered to identify potential areas of enhancement for the existing ESR service. Areas where we could look to enhance the existing ESR service based on these findings will form part of our future planning.  

Further details about these plans will be communicated to our stakeholders in the usual way via our special interest groups and other communication channels in the coming months.

Further updates about the progress of the ESR Discovery will be published via the ESR Transformation page on the ESR Hub website.

A partnership with NHSEI to deliver clinical quality improvement to the NHS

In May 2021 the NHSBSA ESR Service completed the ESR and National Consultant Information Programme (NCIP) pilot involving fifteen NHS trusts.

This pilot, utilising interface capability, paved the way for a national rollout programme, aiming to deliver the NCIP portal to consultants within 150 trusts by the end of 2021. The first tranche of the national roll out went live on 18^th June 2021, with two other tranches planned for go live in September and December 2021.

What is NCIP and why is it needed?

The National Consultant Information Programme within NHS England and Improvement has developed an online NCIP portal, which provides NHS consultants with a single point of access to clinical outcomes information. It covers their whole area of practice and provides a mechanism to support safety monitoring. The portal does this by combining different sources of data including Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) and speciality audits (to name a few), into a single place. It is initially being made available to consultant surgeons working in eight participating specialities of ENT, general surgery, ophthalmology, oral & maxillofacial surgery, orthopaedics, paediatric surgery and urology. The portal enables NHS consultants to review information about their clinical activity and their patients’ outcomes against benchmarks, thus enabling them to drive quality improvements. It supports safety for patients and can be used for appraisals and revalidation.

Figure: NCIP delivers benefits to multiple stakeholders

By becoming the objective source of truth for consultants’ outcome data, it drives consultants to a better and improved quality of care which increases patient safety, streamlines the delivery of care and leads to savings made in potential litigation and unnecessary care.

Professor Sir Norman Williams – Chair of NCIP.

The NCIP Programme aims to make the clinically validated consultant level outcome metrics available to 28,000 consultants in the next 3 years.

ESRs role

The NHSBSA ESR team have developed a new interface for the NCIP programme. Following an NHS Trust authorising use of this interface (by raising an ESR service request (SR)), the NCIP programme is provided with the minimum data required to set up and manage access for consultants on the portal, including:

• Name,
• GMC number,
• Work email address, and
• Area of work.

The interface does not include pay related data. This link is the necessary first step to granting the consultant access to the online portal. As such, the ESR NCIP interface is integral to consultants’ access to the NCIP portal.

Without the amazing ESR team at the NHSBSA, we wouldn’t be in the position we are now. With the support of the ESR team, we are exceeding our roll-out and implementation expectations. This means that we are able to provide consultant surgeons with access to their outcomes data in a timely manner, not only generating but growing enthusiasm and engagement within the consultant community. Over the medium and longer term, this will enable us to realise more benefits and realise them earlier. We also know that should any issues arise; the NHS ESR team will be there on hand to guide and help as they have been to date. We are excited to continue this partnership and would like to thank the ESR team for all they are doing.

Marina Bogovac, Head of National Consultant Information Programme (NCIP)

Through its partnership with NCIP, the NHSBSA ESR Service continues its indispensable contribution to the NHS workforce landscape and helps to deliver the quality improvement to the wider NHS which has been identified in the NHS Long Term Plan.

NCIP and ESR partnership - the next steps

NCIP are in the process of reaching out to trusts for the upcoming tranches of roll out September and December and are inviting organisations to contact them at nhsi.ncip@nhs.net for expressions of interest. ESR will continue to work closely with NCIP to ensure that trusts that are identified for the two tranches are provided with the information they need to raise the service desk requests; which is a pre-requisite to adding the trust to the ESR NCIP interface.

For any information on the NCIP programme please visit https://www.gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/ncip/

New Functional Marketing Materials on the ESR Hub

Over the course of the last year many organisations have changed the way that they work to deal with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ESR service was no different and in March 2020 the ‘COVID Resource Hub’ was launched on Discover Your ESR. 

This proved to be very popular with organisations and their employees; pulling together numerous pieces of guidance covering the following areas:

• User Notices
• Information for ESR Leads
• Information for corporate teams
• Applicant Guidance
• Employee Guidance
• Manager Guidance

The success of the COVID Resource Hub has led to a review of the functional brochure material that the team has made available to users, and subsequently developed a new approach to these materials. 

The launch of the ESR Hub – the new landing page for my.esr.nhs.uk last year has also meant that we can make these materials easily accessible in one place. The functional brochures have been redesigned following the same structure as the step by step guides on the COVID Resource Hub, designed to focus on the benefits to the organisation, manager and employee.  The new functional marketing materials all comprise the following elements:

• Promotional Guide – This demonstrates the benefits of using a particular piece of functionality.

• Implementation Guide – This gives an overview of how to implement the functionality.

• Functional Guide – This explains the other elements of complimentary ESR functionality that can be used, introducing further benefits; for example; Management Plan functionality (within Manager Self Service) enables organisations to set, agree and review objectives agreed by a manager and employee. This functional guide is designed to give managers handy hints and tips and links to further guides.

All of these functional marketing materials can be found in one handy place on the ESR Hub.  Simply go to Implementing ESR in the menu bar and you can select which area of ESR functionality you are looking for.

A full suite of Manager Self Service, ESR Learning Management and Online Payslip materials are already available, with other new functional marketing materials being added to the ESR Hub incrementally over the coming weeks and months – Employee Self Service will be available in July.

If you are interested in implementing ESR Learning Management, any aspect of Manager Self Service or Online Payslips, then accessing these new functional materials is a good starting point.  Our regional ESR Functional Account Managers and Implementation Advisors will also able to provide you with the guidance and support you may need to get your change project off the ground.

 

Improving the on-boarding process for new starters using the Applicant Dashboard

North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust is a medium sized acute trust with over 6,000 staff based across 3 primary locations. The organisation has always been keen to develop its use of ESR and achieve maximum benefits for the organisation and their employees wherever possible. 

David De Lisle, ESR Systems Manager and chair of the East of England Self Service/HR & Recruitment SIG talked to us recently about their use of the Applicant Dashboard.

The applicant dashboard has been a game changer for our Trust. It has revolutionised the on-boarding process for all of our new starters, enabling them to access resources and information the moment they are given access by the Recruitment Team at the conditional offer stage. Before the applicant dashboard, there was a noticeable gap in communication with an applicant between the conditional offer stage, to when they started their employment at the Trust.

The applicant dashboard has bridged this gap and allowed us as a Trust, to communicate more information to our new starters in a much more efficient manner.

Using the standard portlets that are available, applicants are able to access and update any outstanding e-Learning, personal information, emergency contact and equality and diversity details. The dashboard encourages the applicant to complete this information before they start. 

Visibility of the data that we hold for each applicant enables them to take more direct ownership of their own data and what is inputted against their record.

The dashboard is also incredibly customisable. We have been able to create a more localised version of the dashboard, built for our Trust via the videos, forms and information that we have added. Some of the portlets that we have created include:

• Contact details for the wider HR team.
• Trust information – car parking forms/childcare vouchers, working for our Trust, FAQs.
• Covid-19 Risk Assessment Form – applicants are able to let us know, before they start if they are at risk/shielding, giving us (the employer) time to plan for what might impact on their role within the Trust. We are able to set up homeworking etc. before they officially begin work in the Trust.
• Online IT Training – the ability for all new applicants to access and complete IT training instead of coming into the Trust and having a face-to-face session.
• Video message – welcoming new applicants to our Trust.

The Applicant Dashboard has really transformed our on-boarding process and it has the added bonus that it looks really good. I would encourage all organisations out there who may be considering using the Applicant Dashboard to look at its potential and to make contact with your regional ESR Team about implementing it within your own organisation.

ESR supporting the COVID 19 Vaccination Programme: Utilising the Applicant Dashboard

To support the vaccination effort against Covid-19, St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospital NHS Trust (STHK) was identified as the Lead Employer for the Large Scale Covid Vaccination Project in Cheshire and Merseyside. The Trust had to react quickly and collaboration across departments was going to be key to the successful delivery of the project.

On-boarding a significant number of staff effectively was paramount to the commencement of vaccinations in the region and so an urgent review of on-boarding processes was undertaken.  The challenge that we faced was recruiting and training over a thousand, clinical and non-clinical staff that would be based at St Helens Totally Wicked Stadium, for the first phase of public vaccinations.  We decided that the ESR Applicant Dashboard functionality would be key to this recruitment and training activity.

The Trust was already using TRAC for the recruitment of these additional staff and so it was important that the ESR and TRAC teams at the Trust worked closely together. All individuals with a status “Offer Accepted” in ESR would have access to the Applicant Dashboard allowing the pre-hire IAT and immediate access to e-Learning in ESR. Most of the first cohort of applicants were existing NHS Employees and the pre-hire IAT meant that we could check training records without applicants having to repeat existing statutory and mandatory training. This was a key part of the strategy as there were limited opportunities for face to face training due to the social distancing measures required.

Using ESR meant the cohort were able to access the online training covering the Oxford AstraZeneca and Pfizer modules before their pre-employment checks were completed. By allowing applicants to log on and complete the required learning (linked to competencies via a certification) prior to their start date meant that they were able to be deployed as soon as shifts became available. This not only decreased the time from application to deployment in our large vaccination centre it also improved the employee experience having a positive impact on the employer-employee relationship. 

The Trust also encouraged applicants to use the dashboard to amend personal information such as bank account details. As a large number of these applicants were current NHS staff the IAT functionality in ESR would pull through current bank details from the source VPD, applicants could then confirm or update the details. This increased the accuracy of payroll information but also assisted in reducing the need for new starter paperwork and therefore adapting current payroll processes to be more Covid friendly and secure.

 Nicola Trebicki, Vaccine Support Administrator, was one of the employees who took advantage of the Applicant Dashboard. Nicola said:

Prior to starting in my role I found it very beneficial to be able to access the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Portal. This not only allowed me to feel part of the trust before my first day but, it also gave me access to essential learning prior to starting. This was especially beneficial in my role of supporting at the Mass Vaccination Centre and being able to complete the vaccine training to be able to hit the ground running on my first day and provide vital support during the pandemic.

Claire Horrocks, ESR and Workforce Administrator confirmed how useful the Applicant Dashboard has been in ensuring staff are compliant before commencing work.  Highlighting this Claire said:

Working within a small team on the mass vaccination project, it quickly became clear how useful the ESR applicant dashboard was. Giving applicants this early access meant they were able to complete their online learning prior to starting and speed up the entire training process, which was paramount during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to lockdown procedures there was less opportunity for face to face interactions with new staff. The dashboard helped to support applicants in understanding the trust and gave them ready access to information about our organisation.

Over a 1000 staff were recruited and trained in various competencies in order to be ready to start supporting the vaccination project.

Overall St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospital NHS Trust found the Applicant Dashboard fundamental in the recruitment of over 1,000 applicants for the Covid-19 Vaccination Project and feedback has been excellent both from within the Trust and for this cohort of applicants. Following the successful utilisation of the Applicant Dashboard in the project we are now reviewing future plans and hope to implement the Applicant Dashboard across all future recruitment and on-boarding activity within the Trust.

For further information about our experiences using the ESR Applicant Dashboard please contact Julie Weeks, ESR Project Manager, St. Helens & Knowsley NHS Teaching Hospitals Trust: Julie.Weeks@sthk.nhs.uk

Delivering Training during a pandemic

The North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care (NCIC) System was formed in October 2019 with the acquisition of North Cumbria University Hospitals by Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.  As a result of this acquisition the HR team underwent a restructure, as did much of the newly formed organisation.

The HR team delivered training in person; traveling to deliver ‘HR Systems Education Clinics’ to groups of managers. These sessions included topics such as:

• What is ESR?
• Why is data quality important and what is it used for ?(locally, regionally and wider health economy),
• Employment forms managers needed to complete (starter, change, leaver) and why we ask for the information we do,
• Supervisor/employee Self Service (recording appraisals and absence, viewing payslips on line etc.),
• Importance of the supervisor hierarchy,
• Electronic expense and timesheet systems,
• Approvals/approver process,
• Counter fraud,
• Scenarios, issues and answers, and
• Where to find help and support.

We found these sessions really useful to engage and educate our managers and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.  We ran this alongside individual training for new supervisors about how to record absence and appraisals and approving various claims on our other systems.

Post merge

It took the team a few months to review, align and consolidate processes in the team.  Given the amount of change in the new Trust, the teams were busy keeping on top of BAU and had little time to sit down and re-evaluate everything.

Impact of COVID on training

Once processes had been aligned, we needed to communicate any changes to our customers.  We used our usual channels of communication; direct email to managers/supervisors, Trust news, intranet and email signatures – however, not all the messages were getting through.  Due to the pandemic and restrictions on face to face engagement we were unable to restart the HR Systems Education Clinics. That coupled with the fact that managers were also very busy and wouldn’t be able to spend any length of time in an MS Teams session, we had to think differently, and this is where we developed the bitesize webinar sessions.

Bite Size ESR Webinar Sessions

We started with Employee Self Service to help new starters and staff who had been away from the workplace for any length of time navigate ESR, view payslips, change bank account details etc. 

Our managers were confused as to why the appraisal compliance in their areas was not as high as they expected.  The team performed some analysis on what had been entered into ESR and it became apparent there were data quality issues.  To help managers improve their data quality we ran live webinars specifically about appraisal recording covering areas such how to record the appraisals so that the activity was picked up in the appraisal reports.  The compliance rate increased quickly as managers that attended the webinars knew what was expected of them. Another addition to our bitesize webinars covered which HR forms managers need to complete and when, the purpose of ESR is also included, along with the importance of data quality and how we are measured on this.  There are pre-recorded versions of all our webinars available on the intranet which staff can access on or off the Trust network for maximum flexibility.

Feedback from managers and attendees has been positive and this has shown in the increase in correctly entered information.  These sessions for managers have not replaced the remote 1:1 new supervisor training; they’re purely for refresher or point of reference purposes.

I found the webinars very useful, as a busy manager/clinician it was great to have some easily accessible training that only took half and hour. Easy to access wherever I was, so no travelling or swapping appointments etc. Great use of time would be grateful for more in the future.

Gail James, Specialist Respiratory Nurse/Joint Team Lead

I found the bitesize session that I attended extremely helpful. The fact that they were short and to the point and on a specific topic was really helpful and meant that I didn’t have to shuffle meetings and priorities about so much to be able to attend. They were much more accessible because of this. The training was specific to my role and also gave me confidence that I knew where and who to ask for help on that topic should I need it in the future. I would recommend them to anyone.

Marti Irving, Communications & Engagement Manager

Future Sessions

Commenting on the success of these sessions and plans for the future Julie Thompson, Head of HR Services said “These sessions have proven to be extremely popular and there are two further topics we are working on which should be live in the next few weeks: recording absence in ESR, and recording clinical, management and safeguarding supervision.”

For further information please contact Julie Thompson: Julie.Thompson2@ncic.nhs.uk 

Spring Clean Your ESR!

Now that spring is upon us, the London Regional team decided to help ESR users dust off the cobwebs with two events covering Workstructures and Housekeeping in ESR.

The Workstructures event was a re-run of the popular session first run in November 2020, and covered functionality such as setting up and maintaining the organisational hierarchy, positions, locations and reporting.  The demand for the session remains high, and with this in mind, the team have arranged for a third session to be run on 20^th July – details can be found in the ESR Events Calendar on the ESR Hub: https://my.esr.nhs.uk/dashboard/web/esrweb/nhs-events.

The Housekeeping event covered a wide range of URPs, from Recruitment to Learning and all points in between, and attracted over 100 attendees, both from London and country-wide.

The purpose of the session was to highlight the importance of good housekeeping practices in ESR, and the impact that activity (or lack thereof) in one part of the system could have on other parts.

Topics covered included:

• Closing down old Recruitment and Applicant Activity,
• Differences between Terminating and Deleting Employee records (and how to do the latter),
• Keeping the Learning Catalogue tidy,
• Maintenance of Roles and URPs,
• Position coding, and
• Useful ESRBI reports to identify any discrepancies in data quality.

‘Very informative and useful’ and ‘Keep them coming!’ were some responses from the attendees.  The London ESR team plans to develop a Fact Sheet covering the topics explored in the Housekeeping session, and will make available on the ESR Hub.