Improving staff productivity with automated business processes
The South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SCAS) is headquartered in Bicester, Oxfordshire and serves 7m people across six counties. Part of the NHS, its emergency operations handle over half a million calls each year. SCAS also provides a range of non-emergency services and care including the 111 medical advice line and patient transport, as well as commercial logistics.
To support its critical community services SCAS runs 900 vehicles and employs over 1,000 community first responders and co-responders.
At a time when there is so much pressure on our services, Turnkey is helping us to digitise some of our critical key worker processes which were typically manual and paper based. This is a massive step up for us and will enable us to focus on our front-line services rather than on labour intensive admin.”
— Mark Northcott, Head of Information Security and Governance
Challenge
SCAS was looking to increase its operational efficiency and meet wider NHS policy requirements that included the cessation of the use of fax machines. The existing manual systems in incident reporting and in the HR leaver process were major pain points for the ambulance service. These needed quickly addressing to increase efficiency and productivity across the organisation and free up resources to focus on providing front line services.
Moving away from manual HR which relied on downloading, scanning and faxing hard copy forms would involve online automation. This would ensure that all relevant departments would be informed much more quickly about leavers and switching off system access, controls and passwords would be instant. Incident reporting for property and personal injury was currently also still paper-based and required a lot of manpower to process the administration for incidents and accidents involving the ambulance service, whether internal or with a third party.
To achieve these goals and support SCAS in its compliance with the NHS Data Security Protection Toolkit (DSPT), the Trust needed to automate some of its core business processes. A successful transformation of these processes could also make this the blueprint for other NHS Trusts.
Mark Northcott, Head of Information Security and Governance at SCAS, explains, “The move to automate these core business processes is a practical and modern approach, but was causing us pain points as we looked to digitise our various reporting methods which up until now have very much been labour intensive and paper-based.”
Solution
Following the selection of Micro Focus for its leading software solutions, authorised partner Turnkey Consulting was engaged to integrate the Identity Management (IDM) platform and digitise the HR and incident management processes.
Scoping conversations via remote video conferencing with the project team and subsequent workshops with key stakeholders across the Trust ensured everyone was aligned. From there automated workflows were created that would shape the digital transformation of these processes.
The NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) system is now integrated with the IDM platform so SCAS has the capability to manage leavers quickly and easily via the HR portal, with completed online forms automatically sent to the right departments to action.
Requests and tasks for incident reporting are also now easily completed online, providing a better user experience for staff and making it quicker to process either internal incidents or those with third parties.
The automation of these business processes is enabling the Trust to meet NHS policy requirements and increase its operational efficiency. At a time when there is an enormous pressure on the NHS, the digital platform will free up resources to focus on front line services both during and after Covid-19.
Mark goes on to say, “We are very pleased to be working with Turnkey on our digital transformation and grateful that they provided their services on a pro bono basis.
“As a public service, we are quite cautious in what we do technologically, but with small steps we will reap increasing productivity and efficiency benefits as we strive to improve our range of emergency and nonemergency services.”
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With hybrid working here to stay, we need to ensure that our business processes are fit for purpose. Automating some of our core business processes with Turnkey is a proof of concept that we will be able to carry into other areas of the organisation as we move forward on our digital transformation journey and continue to make efficiency gains.”
— Mark Northcott, Head of Information Security and Governance
Benefits
Cost Savings: There will be an estimated 20%+ saving on manpower effort from digitising reporting procedures for incidents and accidents in the ambulance service
Streamlined Processes: The integration of the ESR leaver process into the digital platform will not only make it easier for staff to record details but ensure the relevant departments instantly know who has left and can amend their access and controls with immediate effect
Enhanced Productivity: Automated processes will boost productivity as staff and resources are able to work in a more streamlined way and are freed up to focus on providing front line services
Digital Opportunities: As SCAS moves forward with its digital transformation journey it will continue to reduce manual paper-based processes and make better use of its existing software solutions to make efficiency gains across the organisation
Increased Compliance: The automated processes means that fax machines are no longer in use and SCAS will increase its compliance with the NHS DSPT regulations
A Blueprint for Success: The successful transformation of these processes could also make this the blueprint for other NHS Trusts.
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