Case studies

Background

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust treat over 350,000 patients per year at its two main sites, Burnley General Hospital and Royal Blackburn Hospital, and at its smaller hospitals in Pendle, Rossendale. The Trust has 56 rotas and 320 training and non training posts. John Payso had been recently appointed as the HR Business Partner at the trust and had heard about Zircadian in his previous post in the South West. He contacted us to find out whether we could help the trust with redesigning their existing rotas.

 

The Challenge

The trust had minimal resources to dedicate to redesigning rotas. The existing rota information was poor. The clinicians that managed the rotas had limited understanding of both the NEW Deal and EWTD. John Payso contacted us to find out whether we could rebuild the existing rotas, redesign non-compliant rotas, and train those clinicians managing rotas in New Deal and EWTD rules.

 

The Solution

The work was split into two distinct phases. In phase 1, Zircadian recreated all the existing rotas in an electronic database, and identified any New Deal and EWTD compliance problems with the current rotas. During phase 2 of the project Zircadian was asked to redesign the rotas to make them cost-effective and New Deal /EWTD compliant. During this phase Zircadian discussed extensively the alternatives to current working arrangements with each of the lead clinicians.

 

The project was completed in less than two weeks. The Trust received an up-to-date, online database of their rotas, so that all the lead clinicians could view the rotas particular to them. Zircadian also presented a report highlighting which rotas needed to be changed, how to change these rotas and the financial savings anticipated. The report detailed the new rotas, provided a full analysis of compliance and a breakdown of costs.

 

The Benefits

Zircadian consultants were able to produce a database of the Trust’s current rotas and train their lead clinicians in the details of New Deal and EWTD rules. This meant that the clinicians have an increased understanding of the requirements for New Deal /EWTD compliance, and the financial consequences of not maintaining compliance. The Trust was presented with 21 newly designed rotas that, once implemented, would save the Trust £1.3 million in rota costs.

 

John Payso, the HR Business partner, said “Zircadian were terrific and totally professional. Within our short timescales they were able to deliver compliant rotas, increase the rota knowledge in our organisation and show us how to make significant savings”.