Case studies

Adding e-Roster for greater efficiency and improved control

Implementation of Zircadian’s e-Roster for junior doctors has been a significant factor in helping Bedford Hospital NHS Trust to reduce its locum spend by 44%. The Trust is on target to make a saving of more than half a million pounds within one year of implementing the solution. In the first four months after implementation the trust saved £220,000, with a return on investment within the first month.

Prior to implementation of the system Bedford Hospital NHS Trust relied on nine different staff members spread across its multiple clinical specialties to create rosters for its junior doctors. This was carried out using Excel spreadsheets which were updated monthly or even six-monthly and were visible only to selected members of staff.

 

As a result information on rosters was rarely up-to-date, often leaving an inaccurate and incomplete picture of junior doctors’ schedules. This meant the Trust found it difficult to respond quickly to situations when extra support was needed or it would spend money on locum doctors without being able to properly investigate alternatives first.

The severity of the problem was identified when the Trust reported an average junior doctor locum spend of over £125,000 per month between April-October 2010. Reducing this spend was a priority, and to do this the Trust was clear that it needed to replace its existing rostering systems with a more robust and efficient form of workforce planning.

Bedford Hospital turned to Zircadian, the leading provider of software and consultancy for all hospital doctors in the NHS. The Trust was already using two solutions, e-Rota and e-Monitor, from Zircadian’s Junior Doctor Portal. By choosing to expand its current complement of solutions from the portal to include e-Roster, the Trust aimed to improve its processes and as a consequence, significantly reduce its locum spend.

 

Increased visibility with e-Roster is the key to reduced locum spend

 

With e-Roster, consultants and switchboard staff always have an up-to-date record of exactly which junior doctors should be where and when, and who will be holding the on-call bleep for emergencies. These are all important factors contributing to improvements in patient safety.
Zircadian’s e-Roster is designed specifically to manage the complex working patterns of junior doctors. The system has completely transformed the way in which Bedford’s junior doctor rosters are managed. All rosters for Bedford Hospital’s junior doctors are now built automatically from agreed templates and held centrally by the e-Roster system.

 

Once these rosters are created, roster managers can easily make adjustments at any time to account for shift swaps, holidays and sick leave, using e-Roster to identify where swaps and leave can take place without affecting services.

The system gives an accurate picture of unfilled shifts and available staff across all departments, meaning the Trust can now identify gaps at a glance. If the system can’t highlight available staff to swap into the shift, internal locums can be quickly identified using the system’s ‘locum search’ tool.

 

The system also allows doctors to be more pro-active should they wish to work additional hours. They can log onto e-Roster and establish if any locum support is required, then approach medical staffing managers to offer to do that shift.

With e-Roster, consultants and switchboard staff always have an up-to-date record of exactly which junior doctors should be where and when, and who will be holding the on-call bleep for emergencies. These are all important factors contributing to improvements in patient safety.

 

Medical Director at the Trust, Ed Neale commented, “Using Zircadian’s software it is easy to see where and when people are working, and the fact that we have been able to demonstrate such large savings so swiftly has proved that the system was well worth investing in. The system is easy to use and provides quick and robust solutions to the day to day management of increasingly complex rosters designed to meet both clinical needs and the European Working Time Directive.”

Dr Henry Carleton, Managing Director at Zircadian commented, “All NHS trusts are all faced with the challenge of reducing costs while maintaining patient care. As Bedford Hospital NHS Trust has demonstrated, e-Roster improves the use of existing resources, which in turn can provide an extremely rapid return on investment. In this case the cost of the system was easily recouped within one month, and the Trust is on track to save more than half a million pounds in just one year.”

About Bedford Hospital NHS Trust

 

Bedford Hospital NHS Trust provides a range of services to over 270,000 people living predominantly in North and Mid Bedfordshire and is the vascular hub for the county. Bedford Hospital is a 403-bed, high-performing, acute district general hospital committed to providing a caring and safe environment for both patients and staff.

 

For further information call Dee Enright on 020 8946 8199 or email dee.enright@zircadian.com

 

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