Quarter 3 update
October – December 2015
This document has been produced by the NHS ESR Central Team to provide NHS HR
Directors and their teams with the latest information relating to ESR.
ESR Transition Project
Within the communication advising Interim Service commenced in June 2015, you may
recall that the ESR Programme was working with IBM to explore how transition could be
achieved with lower risk to service continuity. Specifically, consideration was given to
retaining the current ESR infrastructure, thereby removing the need to physically move the
ESR hardware and supporting functions.
In September 2015, a revised approach to transition was agreed with IBM that removes
the need for a whole scale and single technology change event, to a series of planned
changes and technical refresh activities throughout 2016.
Ultimately, minimising impact to Users and safeguarding service continuity remains the key
objective, and the revised approach directly supports this.
ESR Enhance Project
In early October, all NHS HRDs should have received an email and letter from Paul
Spooner, NHS ESR Programme Director, providing an update on the progress of the ESR
enhance project.
The letter outlined the excellent work that has been undertaken to date - working with the
NHS Pilot sites, to design the new User Interface and Portal for ESR, and also provided a
status update
In summary, following some design assumptions that were challenged in June, a review
was carried out to ensure the build would deliver the required functionality to both time and
quality. As a result of this review, in early August it was agreed that a revision to the build,
test and release approach was required.
An exercise of re-planning has now concluded, and as explained in the letter, the original
timescales for release of the functionality will be delayed and phased as follows (exact
dates to be agreed in line with the ESR release schedule):
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New Learning Administration User Interface (UI) and New Employee Self-Service
UI: Pilot go-live in June/July 2016, with availability to the NHS in
September/October 2016.
New Manager Self Service UI, Mobile Access/Internet Access and Mobile Apps:
Pilot go-live September/October 2016, with availability to the NHS in November
2016.
Whilst any delay is disappointing, it is important to stress that identifying the need to
undertake re-planning so early in the build activity has enabled us to mitigate further delay
and re-work. Additionally, the Pilot approach was consciously introduced to ensure any
such issues could be identified and resolved in a timely manner.
We will ensure that you continue to receive updates about progress across all areas of the
enhance project at appropriate stages. In the meantime, if you have any specific
questions, or would like the NHS ESR Central Team to attend your regional HRD network,
please contact esr.communications@nhs.net
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Revalidation using ESR
As the workforce solution for the NHS in England and Wales, ESR is already ideally placed
to support the Revalidation process. This includes the well-established professional
bodies’ interface, whereby an employee’s Revalidation date is populated in ESR directly
from the NMC.
ESR can support revalidation using Self-Service, without the need for a separate solution,
and this approach will also add to the wider benefits that a deployment of ESR SelfService can bring.
Recognising the overriding principle that the nurse or midwife takes responsibility for their
own successful Revalidation, ESR has a range of options currently available to support the
process;
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Ability to create local review types specific to Revalidation;
Employee or Line Manager can initiate the process in Self-Service. It is beneficial
but not mandatory to have deployed Employee Self-Service;
Ability to create local questionnaires to replicate the national questionnaire (see
images below) to support aspects of the NMCs Revalidation templates;
Employee can add participants to the review process if their line manager is not the
same person as who is confirming their Revalidation documentation;
Attach documents to a Revalidation review in ESR;
A comprehensive suite of Business Intelligence reports to track progress against
Revalidation components, offering Board Level assurance.
In the last few months, the NHS ESR Programme team has been engaging with a wide range
of stakeholders, including both senior nurses and HR professionals, to discuss the NMC nurse
and midwife Revalidation, to understand how NHS Organisations will form their approach to
recording and tracking the key requirements outlined by the NMC.
The valuable feedback captured during these discussions has enabled the NHS ESR Team to
develop a suite of solution improvements, building on the current ESR capabilities outlined
above, to support revalidation from April 2016.
To find out more how about ESR can support your nursing and midwifery staff in the
Revalidation process, and to understand what new capability will be available next spring
read the latest edition of ESR News or contact your Regional Account Manager.
Total Reward Statements
Now in its second year of operation, the latest Total Reward Statements (TRS), for
financial year 2014/15, were made available to current NHS Employees and deferred
members of the NHS Pension Scheme during autumn 2015. Pay slip leaflets and other
communication methods were used to inform employees of the availability of the
statements.
Over 300,000 statements were viewed during the first year that statements were available.
For more information on Total Reward Statements please visit the NHS BSA Website or
email us via esr.trs@nhs.net
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Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
The link between ESR and the DBS Service is now fully operational. The interface is
enabled on request by individual employing organisations. To date, 271 organisations
have gone live on the interface and around 25,000 employees are having their status
checked by ESR.
The link is delivering two significant business benefits for ESR users. These are:
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ESR automatically checks and where appropriate, updates an employee’s DBS
disclosure certificate status every 60 days. Where there is new information about
the individual, this is communicated to the Safeguarding Lead within the employing
organisation via an automated system notification process.
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The link also allows employers to alert the DBS that a member of their workforce
will be formally referred for consideration by the Barring Team.
For more information on the link with the DBS, please visit the ESR Website or email us
via esr.dbs@nhs.net
ESR Interface Capability
The ESR Systems Integration Team continues to expand on the capability of ESR to
interface with local and national systems. Details of the interfaces available are listed on
the ESR website: - https://www.electronicstaffrecord.nhs.uk/about-us/systems-integrationteam
For further details please contact the team via esr.interfaces@nhs.net
Produced by the NHS ESR Central Team
October 2015
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