Work is set to start this summer to replace the 70 payroll and HR computer packages used by the NHS with one integrated system.
Personnel Today has learned that the new NHS system will mean personnel managers will have a central record of staff skills and training for the first time.
Six suppliers have submitted tenders to provide the system being developed by the Department of Health. It will replace more than 30 different payroll packages and 40 HR packages currently used in the NHS. A decision on preferred suppliers is expected by the end of July.
Wayne Lloyd, director of personnel at Glenfield Hospital NHS Trust in Leicestershire, who has been seconded to the project, described the benefits as “potentially enormous”.
He said, “The integrated nature of the system proposed means that much duplication of record-keeping can be avoided.”
The introduction of central training records is expected to vastly reduce administrative work. They will also be web-enabled, allowing staff to view and update their own records, subject to confidentiality.
Lloyd said, “The records will move automatically with staff rather than be lost or transferred.
“Given that there are more than 200,000 such transfers a year, there will be significant implications for productivity.”
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Insiders said earlier this year that the DoH had put the cost at about £70m but that they feared the true cost could be as much as £200m. (Personnel Today, 4 April)
Lloyd added that a budget for the project is currently being negotiated with the Treasury.
