SMART e-Rostering saves Gateshead Health £280,000
The introduction of a staff e-Rostering and time and attendance (T and A) solution has saved Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust more than £280,000 over the past year. The organisation has rolled out the T and A solution, provided by SMART, to around 2,000 clinical and non-clinical staff; while the e-Rostering solution has gone live across 20 wards, with full deployment expected by August next year. Pam Oliver, assistant director of finance at the trust, said: "We have already identified cost savings of £283,000 which has assisted us to meet the cost reduction programme in 2010/2011. Given the current status of the project, it is expected to deliver the originally identified savings of £1.1m by March 2013 and we believe it will help achieve further cost savings." She said the main driver for moving to the SMART system was to replace the paper timesheets and provide a more accurate payroll service, adding: "It helps supervisors to plan ahead, deploy their resources more effectively, better support their staff, and comply with legislation such as the European Work Time Directive. This boosts employee morale - a win, win situation all round." Project manager, Clare Jones, added: "We have been able to streamline our payroll processes, which we estimate saves each employee over an hour every month. In addition, through improved management we are reducing our use of bank staff and we have the opportunity to increase staff morale through more equitable and visible rostering."
