15.12.14
IBM wins contract for Electronic Staff Record
The Department of Health has awarded the contract for the highly sought-after Electronic Staff Record (ESR) to IBM.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: "We have selected IBM as the preferred bidder for the Electronic Staff Records tender, which ensures NHS staff are paid accurately."
Paul Spooner, NHS ESR programme director, announced the decision in an email sent to NHS trust HR directors, seen by NHE.
He wrote: “The Electronic Staff Record system is the NHS’ most important workforce tool. As well as being responsible for ensuring that your staff can be paid on an accurate and timely basis, ESR provides mechanisms for your organisation to record and check qualifications and the professional registration status of your staff, and provides opportunities for them to learn new skills – supporting the provision of a competent and safe workforce. ESR also enables you to make informed decisions about your workforce through robust management information, via ESR’s business intelligence reporting.”
He said that some of the improvements that would be made to the system as a result of the new contract include increased mobile access and self-service, “helping us move further towards a paperless NHS; and a modern user interface that will be easier to navigate – leading to productivity and efficiency improvements”.
The contract was first awarded on an outsourced basis to prime supplier McKesson in 2001 and runs until August 2015. In addition to McKesson, the original consortium included IBM Business Consulting Services and Oracle.
The contract has been fully live since 2008 and the system has evolved over time to reflect the needs of the user base, which currently stands at around 1.4 million. A critical change in the contract, which is worth between £200m – £400m, is that the DH, as single funder, will take ownership of the system.
Up to six suppliers were believed to have been competing for the contract: CSC, IBM, TCS, Steria, Atos, and BT/Accenture. In August the DH announced the shortlist was down to three but would not disclose the competitors for commercial reasons.
The ESR comprises three core areas: HR and payroll; learning and talent management; and workforce information provision. It is highly regarded in Whitehall as data needs only be entered once, but can be viewed and used in context across the NHS, with all related information on an individual employee is captured and stored centrally.
The DH estimates that ESR has provided over £200m worth of savings to the NHS so far.
The IBM deal is subject to contract signature.
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